37 Reasons to Stay
by RavenHeart101
Summary: "Moving out to California was possibly the best decision he had ever made." When things go wrong Blaine decides that leaving Ohio is the best thing for him. Ohio has 11 reasons for him to leave, California has exactly 37 reasons for him to stay. Puck/Blaine. Rated M to be safe.


37 Reasons To Stay

By: RavenHeart101

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee. Or California 37 by Train that inspired the story.

Summary: "Moving out to California was possibly the best decision he had ever made." When things go wrong Blaine decides that leaving Ohio is the best thing for him. Ohio has 11 reasons for him to leave, California has exactly 37 reasons for him to stay.

**A: N –** This is a bit strange, to be honest. I don't really know how to explain this. But let's just say the 11 reasons he left verses the 37 he stayed? Three or four prompts pushed this into one story. Enjoy. :)

**This is unedited as of now. So... any typos or awkward phrasing you see is entirely my fault. Trigger warning for certain reasons why Blaine left (mostly reason 11), proceed with caution. **

* * *

Moving out to California was possibly the best decision he had ever made. The summer of his senior year was a hectic one, and Blaine was sure that, had he not left, it would have only gotten worse. It would have been harder for him to leave the place that he had called home for the last seventeen years if he had any real friends left, but all those he was closest to were gone, graduated and moved, dead and in the ground, or at a school where he no longer felt welcome. It hadn't come as a surprise to him, even though it should have, when Kurt had called an end to their year long relationship, claiming that it was too hard to keep up with when he had school to focus on. It hadn't come as a surprise to him when he discovered through the grapevine (aka Tina) that Kurt had actually broken up with him because that Chandler guy had made a move and appeared to be what Kurt wanted. Blaine didn't blame him, even though he should have, when he found out that Kurt had cheated because Blaine was in Ohio and Kurt was in New York and, really, what else had he expected?

So moving out to California to live with Cooper hadn't really been all that hard of a decision. It should have though, Blaine knew it should have. But after one too many nights full of insult after insult with his father; after one too many trips to the doctor because he had trembling in his hands and eye pain and headaches and things that symbolized stress to the nth degree; after one too many times being hit, punched, pushed, pulled in every direction; after one too many heart breaks and break downs; after one too many times being betrayed and ignored... Blaine didn't feel any real connection to anyone in Ohio. Not anymore. Not after Kurt had left him, not after the Warblers had become distant, and not after he had been overlooked as a captain of New Directions because he hadn't been there long enough and he, apparently, was being too selfish.

When Cooper had offered him a place to stay (even though that was a bit forced because Blaine had shown up on his doorstep) Blaine hadn't felt anything but complete and utter relief.

It had been an odd sort of relief, not one that Blaine had felt in a long time. Not ever since he had walked through the doors at Dalton the first time and had been met with a smile, handshake, and an offer for coffee. The relief back then had blinded him to everything else, just as it had once he had finally transferred to McKinley to be with Kurt.

But the relief that he felt when Cooper had swung open his door and looked at him with shock before pulling him into the apartment he had shared with his girlfriend and just hugged him like a brother should was something that Blaine had rarely felt before. He hadn't felt it since before Sadie Hawkins, in fact. He hadn't felt it since his brother moved out and since his mother became distant and since his father started making closeted insults and jabs at the person he was. It was as though he didn't have to worry about anything any longer. Blaine... well he could finally be Blaine.

The circumstances as to why he showed up at his brother's help in California at midnight in the middle of a school week were something that scarcely anyone knew. Blaine had made Sugar and Joe promise not to tell anyone, and, so far, they had kept up with that promise. Tina didn't know, Artie didn't know, hell Blaine wasn't even sure if Mister Schuester knew. Coach Beiste did, however, but that fact was uncementable and unchangeable. She had helped him leave with a grim nod and a promise that everything on the school side of the situation would be taken care of. Blaine practically owed her for everything.

It had been around four months into the school year when Blaine had left Ohio. Four months and ten days, to be exact. Kurt had broken up with him two weeks before, and they had kept good of their promise not to talk to one another until things settled down with their emotions and they figured stuff out (which basically meant that they were at a standstill and neither of them were talking to the other). It was one of those rare days when Blaine's parents were actually home for dinner and Blaine had to study for a test he had coming up in Spanish the next day only it was impossible to study when his parents were talking to loud to their guests (at their guests if he wanted to be more specific because no one talked when Penny and Quentin Anderson were talking). He had gotten up to shut his door and grab his ipod so that he could, hopefully, tune them out when he heard his father saying something about college and music and phases and Blaine knew what he was talking about. Of course he knew what he was talking about. He could try to deny it all he wanted but there was only so much denying that could go on at a time and Blaine was already denying that McKinley was getting more and more toxic when it came to his emotions and thoughts so there wasn't much more denying that he could do.

He hadn't said anything, just simply closed the door and grabbed his ipod and slid down the wood until his butt rested on the carpeted ground. He turned up the volume as loud as it could get, putting the headphones in his ears and closing his eyes. He had no idea what he was listening to - some happy song, he knew that much - but he must have drifted off, fallen asleep or something. The next thing he knew there were bangs coming from his parent's bedroom and moans and squeaks and giggles and Blaine knew what was going on. He just didn't want to admit that he knew.

Until things went even more downhill than they already were and his father was walking into his room when he was changing into his PJ's, ripping out his headphones and spitting in his face with slurred speech. What he was saying wasn't insulting, not particularly, but it wasn't comfortable. It wasn't comfortable when he pushed Blaine down into a sitting position on his bed and tried to unzip his pants. It wasn't comfortable when his fist flew out and caught his cheek. It wasn't comfortable to him when Blaine kicked him in the balls, punched him in the face and grabbed his overnight bag and ran for it.

Sugar knew because her place was the first place Blaine went.

Joe knew because he had seen the bruises and the bite mark when they were in the locker room the next day.

Coach Beiste knew because she had overheard him telling Joe and given him four hundred dollars to get a train ticket and leave there as fast as was possible.

So those three knew and they were the only ones in Ohio who knew and Blaine wasn't exactly all for anyone else knowing. Hitting had happened before (minimal, but still there). But his father had never tried anything else like that before that night. And Blaine wasn't willing to stick around to see if he'd trying anything else like that again.

* * *

Cooper was sitting at the kitchen table two weeks into Blaine's impromptu stay, two steaming cups of coffee in front of him and a serious look that Blaine so rarely saw on his brother's face. He frowned, rubbing at his eyes and settling himself down in the seat Cooper nodded at, getting the point that he wanted to talk correctly, his hands shaking a bit as he picked up his coffee to take a cautious sip. It wasn't as though Cooper would poison him - or so Blaine hoped he wouldn't poison him - but he could never be completely sure.

The coffee wasn't poisoned - or at least Blaine hadn't collapsed just yet - so that was good sign. Cooper talking, however, was not. "Why'd you come here, Bee?"

And that seemed to be the question, didn't it? But there were so many different reasons why Blaine had left. It all boiled down to one incident but there had been moments, pinpoints, that lead up to it. Eleven of them if Blaine wanted to be precise. Eleven reasons he left Ohio for California...

He heaved a deep breath, consciously avoiding answering for the time being. It wasn't that he didn't want Cooper to know,it was just that he _didn't want Cooper to know_. It was a screwed up sense of logic, right? He didn't want Cooper to know but, at the same time, he could care less if the whole world knew. He wasn't numb, he was just indifferent. He was relaxing. He was letting himself be himself whether the world liked it or not.

"Blaine." Cooper pressed, that desperate yet warning tone to his voice. That warning tone that parents seemed to constantly have, the desperation and concern something that Blaine had so rarely heard out of his own parent's mouth.

There were eleven reasons that he left. _Eleven_.

Which one should he start with?

* * *

1. That time when his parents got rid of his cat because of some reason that they didn't bother giving him. 

Blaine was eight years old, and he was a very happy eight year old at that. He had best friends and acquaintances and everything that a little boy could want under the sun. He had an older brother who was a bit of a bore - and a bit of a bully - but he did his job well enough and watched over Blaine. He had two loving parents who were always there for him whenever he needed them, and a handful of patient and kind neighbors that would watch over him whenever he needed them to. He also had a cat.

The cat's name was Kimberly (after the Pink Power Ranger but no one but Coop was allowed to know that because that made him look like a fairy or something like that - not that Blaine had anything against fairies, he rather liked Tinker Bell), and she was a rusty brown color. She wasn't an adoption cat, his parents had bought her on a business trip to Washington and had come home with her as a surprise gift for their two sons. Cooper didn't like her very much (then again Cooper didn't like much of anything besides girls and football and acting), but Blaine was over the moon. Kimberly had been his best friend ever since he was four, and she was more of a sibling to him than his own flesh and blood.

Kimberly liked to climb on his pillow at night and swat him with her tail. She liked to chase around the little fabric mouse with her declawed paws. She liked to cuddle up next to him and sleep under his arm, her warm body comforting him into a restful sleep. She had a wet nose and tickling whiskers and she was everything that Blaine ever wanted in a pet.

She was the thing that he looked forward to seeing when he got home from school every day.

It was winter (of course it was winter, why would it have happened in summer or some time when it was warmer?) and snow was falling down from the sky and landing on the concrete outside of the home and not melting for once because it was actually cold enough for it to stick now. He was excited because it was the beginning of winter vacation which not only meant no school but Christmas, and if there was any holiday that Blaine loved it was Christmas.

He bounded down the school bus's steps, his Peter Pan backpack banging lightly against his jacket covered back, yelling out a goodbye to Nate and Justin and Lisa and running over to a Cooper that actually looked happy to see him for once. Of course, the only time Blaine and Cooper really got along was during vacations because they had to spend almost all day, everyday, together and once school started Cooper would go right back to treating him as though he was some sort of pauper and Cooper was the king of all Ohio or something like that.

Eagerly, he grabbed onto Cooper's offered hand and skipped towards their house at the time. "How was school?" Cooper asked lightly, with real interest in his voice (Cooper never had real interest in his voice when it came to his little brother - not that he didn't care, of course he cared, he just didn't care about things like how school had been for Blaine. He had more important things to care about.), their hands swinging between the two of them.

Blaine shrugged and smiled up at his big brother when Cooper pulled his head into his chest to hug him for a moment, Cooper's clear blue eyes sparkling at him and Blaine's own hazel eyes shinning with pure joy. "Nate got pushed by one of the mean boys at recess."

Cooper frowned, but only for a moment, before perking up again. "Well why'd that happen?"

Blaine shrugged again, avoiding his brother's eyes, his joyous nature disappearing for a short time. "Because he was playin' with me an' not with the other boys."

Yes, when he was little he had this enormous habit of not ending words he didn't think really needed an ending. But that wasn't important because after that Cooper had descended into silence and Blaine's mind switched from concentrating on what had happened at recess to what he was going to do for the vacation. "I can't wait to see Kimby!" He said with a large smile on his face, tugging on his brother's larger hand to make him walk faster towards their home. Cooper stumbled along after him, a small laugh passing through his lips until his face paled. Blaine thought it was odd that Cooper's face had gotten that pale, and that he looked so scared at the mention of a cat but Cooper _had_been going to acting classes so it really wasn't all that surprising that he randomly decided to try out something that he had learned. Blaine liked to do that too. Though Cooper said that he was a nerd for doing that but he didn't really care all that much. Nerds were a very yummy candy.

"Blaine..." Cooper pulled him to a stop outside their house, the snow falling and melting in their matching curly hair. Blaine blinked up at him in curiosity, and maybe a bit annoyance because it was cold outside and unless they were going to be making a snow man or having a snow ball fight Blaine wanted to go inside and see Kimberly.

"Are you gonna be sick, Coop?" Blaine asked slowly when he noticed that Cooper's face was still pale and his eyes were still wide in fear and that wasn't normal because Cooper may have been a bit mean but he wasn't scared of _anything_. Cooper stared at him and Blaine could have sworn that he saw guilt on his face, but Cooper had nothing to be guilty for. Next thing he knew Cooper was kneeling down on the snow covered porch and ruining his pants (and Cooper would never be caught dead doing that), his hands steady and strong on Blaine's shoulders and his eyes watering a bit and he looked so guilty. "Coop?"

"Bee... Kimberly had to go away." Blaine felt panic flair up his back and his hazel eyes widened and he could feel tears prickling behind them because Cooper had that tone of voice that Mommy had last year when she had to tell him that his grandmother died and wasn't coming back.

"Go where?" Blaine tried to keep his voice calm and steady, he really did, but there was still a waver.

It took Cooper a long time to answer and when he did he looked as though he would rather be anywhere but there, kneeling on the porch covered in snow, about to break his brother's heart. "Another family wanted to take care of her." His voice was rough and thick and he was blinking but Blaine didn't pay him any mind because _what did that mean?_

"Is she coming back?"

Cooper swallowed. "No."

His parents never did tell him why they had gotten rid of Kimberly but he suspected it had something to do with the new position his mother's company had taken on animal testing.

* * *

2. That time when Cooper left Ohio and suddenly everything was really confusing.

Cooper left that summer - the summer that Kimberly was taken away - to go to school in California and when he got on that plane Blaine knew it was a forever thing. He also knew that Cooper was going to California to pursue a career in acting, not business like he told their parents. He had gotten into some business school out in California, and he had enrolled, but apparently business was simply a back up plan for if his acting career ever fell through - which it wouldn't but Cooper was simply trying to be practical.

Blaine was nine, maybe just turned ten, and things seemed to go from simple and innocent to confusing and headache inducing in less than a minute. Cooper was on that plane heading towards California and Blaine was being ushered into the car, dropped off at home, and told to call the neighbor to watch over him because his parents had a business dinner to attend to.

From then on that was the way things worked.

For the first year Blaine cried every time his parents left him. It wasn't that he was clingy or that he didn't know at least the basics of taking care of himself but there was this feeling of absolute abandonment. He knew how to dress himself, but he didn't know how to dress himself well, which mean that he tended to wear the same general outfit for a week. His neighbor could only do so much - she had three children of her own and even though she was taking to Blaine as though he were a fourth child to him there were lines that she didn't want to cross.

Come the time Blaine was eleven being home alone was an everyday thing. So was being left alone with his thoughts. His thoughts that were a breeding ground for confusion and lack of understanding and when you're eleven years old it kind of sucks when you have no one to talk to.

For a while he was a bit cold hearted. He was irritable by the time Cooper came back from California for the summer, his parents swarming in after him because Cooper was the prodigal son or something like that. He was quiet and he was just so angry and confused and he honestly didn't understand the names the other boys called each other and what exactly was wrong with being gay anyway? That wasn't to say that he was gay, even if he thought Jimmy Olimb was really cute. That wasn't to say that he liked girls either, because Casey Guley had tried to kiss him at a party and he had nearly gotten sick at the thought. It was all very confusing really. He had tried to talk to Nate about it but he shrugged him off, telling him that it was a disgusting topic and that he should never bring it up again because _what if people heard_? And why had he brought it up in the first place?

So, all in all, Blaine had learned from a young age that being gay was not okay and it would essentially screw him over for the rest of his life. And, to make it worse, he wasn't even sure if he was gay.

All Blaine was sure of was that he loved Disney movies, he wanted to be a singer when he was older, Jimmy was adorable, Casey was vomit worthy, and that if he was gay nothing good would come out of it.

But that last one didn't matter because Blaine wasn't gay. And if he was he would definitely try everything possible to _not_be gay.

At such a young age no one had bothered to sit him down and tell him that it was okay to be who he wanted to be. Mrs. Montgomery had her own troubles with paying for private schools for all her kids, and even if Wes was really nice he was two years older than Blaine so they didn't exactly have a lot in common.

Blaine sighed and spun in the computer chair, closing his eyes as Sound of Music played softly from the television.

There wasn't anything wrong with musicals - no matter what some of the other kids at school would tell him - and he rather enjoyed them. He enjoyed them about as much as he enjoyed football - which was a lot, if you were unaware - and he had unlimited On Demand so he could watch either whenever he wanted. But still it wasn't a whole lot of fun being home alone. Mrs. Montgomery had invited him over for dinner but Blaine didn't want to go, choosing instead to drown himself in musicals and thoughts and confusion.

He honestly had no idea why he kept doing this to himself.

With a deep breath he let his eyes slide shut for a moment, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to research. His fingers typed out the words slowly into the Google search engine, his middle finger hovering over the enter button for a long moment before shakily reaching downwards and pressing it. Blaine couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. He didn't even want to see what the answer to his question was going to be - he wasn't even sure if there was an answer to his question.

But he had to have the courage to look at it right? It wasn't like he go to the guidance counselor and ask him for help. It wasn't like he could ask Cooper or his parents, or any of his friends. He wasn't about to embarrass himself and ask Mrs. Montgomery so that was never going to happen and even if he had heard that Wes's brother's went to this really accepting school or something Blaine wasn't about to risk the chance that they wouldn't be accepting and ask them for their help.

Blaine heaved in a deep breath and shakily opened his eyes, squinting at the words that stared back at him. _How do you know if you're gay?_Well that was his question all right, only someone else had asked it and someone else had answered it and it seemed appropriate enough so he clicked on the link.

His eyes practically absorbed everything that was written out for him.

_It's not something that can simply be known. I mean it's not something that you _know_. You _are_. It's like asking a black person how they know they're black._

_But I get why you're asking. I had the same questions myself. I honestly didn't even know the extent of what being gay meant until I moved to MA. I think the moment I met my best friend was the moment that I learned that some people honestly don't care what you are. I wasn't brave enough to come out at home until I had moved away and even after that I haven't been to visit after the first year._

_You know by getting a feeling that things are right with the world when you're with that person you love. You know by looking at boys (or girls if you're a girl) and getting that feeling of attraction instead of looking at someone of the opposite sex. You know by just knowing._

_Just remember that no matter what you are you're not alone._

Blaine sat back in his seat, staring at the words in front of him. "You are." Blaine muttered to himself and let his eyes slide closed. _You're not alone_.

He was pretty sure that was the first time someone had said those words and, for a moment, he could convince himself that they were talking to him too.

* * *

3. That time when he got outed to the whole school through an email.

Lisa had asked him out over email. That was the way everything worked nowadays, email and AIM and Myspace (He didn't have a Myspace but he had the password to Cooper's and he went on it every now and then to look at bands). It only made sense that Lisa would ask him out over email and, at the time, it had made perfect sense for him to say yes.

It wasn't as though she had phrased it as a date, she had asked him if he wanted to go get ice cream and he had said yes because Blaine loved ice cream and Lisa was a great ice cream buddy. But then she had sent him one back saying "Great! It's a date!" and he had started to panic because _oh my god it was a date_ and _Blaine didn't want to go on a date with Lisa_. He had _just_accepted that he wanted to go on a date with Jimmy or Elijah Wood, not Lisa. Lisa was beautiful but she severely lacked in the right anatomy and this wasn't going to turn out well no matter how it went. There was no other way that he could see (at the tender age of thirteen) him turning her down besides by telling her exactly what he was.

So he did. And, being a child of the technological age, he did it through email since that was the way everything was done.

_Oh God. Do you're parents know? _She answered after school that same day and Blaine had answered with a no and he was a bit worried about how she'd react but if she hadn't freaked out yet he doubted she would.

_No._ He typed back tentatively, biting his lower lip and trying to hide his apprehension. There was absolutely nothing to be apprehensive about. _I'm not ready to go that far yet. You're the first person I've told.  
_  
_Not for long. _She answered and he had narrowed his eyes in confusion. What did she mean?

But when he stopped to think about it, maybe she had a good point. He couldn't exactly stay "in the closet" for very long and he planned on gathering up the courage to at least tell Mrs. Montgomery because she had promised him that she would be there for him no matter what it was he needed to talk to her about.

Maybe he should have been more suspicious, but Blaine was a rather trusting individual at the time and he believed that because she was his friend - and had been his friend for so long - she'd live by the invisible rules of friendship and keep it a secret until he was ready to tell more people.

Imagine his surprise when, later that week when he walked into school, there was a rash and red three lettered word spray painted on the yellow paint of his locker. His heart jumped into his throat, his hand clenched around his bag's strap, and his breath rushed out of his lungs. "Fag!" His body collided with his own locker, his hands scraping over the grate and his head flying forward to bang against the metal. The paint was still wet and it rubbed off on his hands and is shirt and pants as he slid downwards and onto the floor.

He was cold. Was that what shock felt like? Or was he feeling panic and heartbreak?

Oddly he wasn't scared or angry. He wasn't anything. He was slightly relieved and his heart ached with so much ancient pain that Blaine was sure it wasn't all his. Only it was. Who's else could it have been? Perhaps the pain of every other person who had to go through this very thing.

No, he hadn't been ready, but he accepted the challenge thrust upon his by every ignorant student of his school with a determined glint in his eyes. He accepted the loss of Lisa's friendship. He accepted the cold ache that spread through all his muscles and overwhelmed his very being. He accepted every flaw of every human being because he wasn't about to sink to their level. They couldn't accept him? So be it. He would be the better man.

He would forever be the better man.

For as long as he could.

* * *

4. That time where he went through the proverbial war with himself and his feelings and everyone else around him.

Blaine was an emotional basket case, or so the case could be made that he was an emotional basket case. He didn't really view himself as one, he simply saw himself as a typical gay teenager dealing with bullying and high school in Ohio. Not that there were many examples for him to base himself off of but the point still stood. He hadn't exactly come out to his parents yet, or to Cooper, but he was working on it. It wasn't working out well but it was working well enough. He was surviving.

Even if surviving was turning out to be the post painful experience he ever dealt with.

He leaned forward, resting his head on his crossed arms and closed his eyes. The floor was cold, but it was hot out and the cold floor was as nice release from the feeling of steam that seemed to gravitate up from the concrete. It was stuffy in the music room, but no one ever really came in there so Blaine figured he was safe for the time being. Sure he was missing class, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He was tired. He was just _so tired_.

Tears prickled at the corners of his eyes and he didn't bother wiping them away. Not yet. He sniffled, turning his head into his arms and rubbing his cheek against the skin on his arm hoping to wipe away some of the wetness that was pooling down them.

Blaine wasn't a pretty crier. He wasn't really a pretty anything. He wasn't much of anything.

He sighed and tried to push back the choked sob that tugged at the back of his throat when he heard the footsteps of someone approaching the door.

He didn't know what it was, but he was so fiercely against crying in front of anyone. He was so fiercely against going to anyone for help because no one did anything. He had tried, too. He had gone to the administration. He had talked to teachers. He had begged the principal. And all of them said the same thing: "We'll look into it". Only they never did look into it. No one did anything.

And Blaine couldn't figure out why. Was it because of the way he looked? Or was it just because he was gay?

He had tried changing it, he really had. But it didn't exactly work out the way he wanted it to.

He had tried watching straight porn but he found himself getting grossed out and then turned on by the guy, not the girl.

He had looked at pictures, plenty of pictures, but that did nothing but give him a new appreciation for real girls and a hatred of the media and how they made girls feel like crap for not being skinny as a rail.

He had looked at websites that offered ways to turn straight but none of those worked.

So, honestly, Blaine was stuck where he was. And it was horrible. It was so horrible that he had sometimes contemplated that maybe it wouldn't be as horrible if he was dead.

He hadn't done anything drastic. He hadn't cut himself or anything. But he had found himself running a finger over the blade of his pocket knife his father got for him when he was ten more than once.

The footsteps stopped outside the door and Blaine held his breath. Someone was coming in, weren't they? Maybe it would work out like it did in movies and they'd just walk away...

Only they didn't. And they did walk in. A boy a few years older than him, one that Blaine recognized as being the new kid from Maine or something, who wore polo shirts and Bermuda shorts every day of the year. The only other gay kid at the school who seemed to take all the bullying in a stride because he had his sister by his side almost 24/7.

The boy blinked down at him in confusion, before a brilliant smile crossed over his face and he was striding over to Blaine and sitting in front of him. "Hey. I'm Mark."

* * *

5. That time when he threw caution to the wind and came out to his parents completely by accident.

It was maybe a month after he had met Mark and Gina and had somehow been taken under their wing. It was maybe a week after he realized that he had a pretty enormous crush on Mark. It was maybe the time that Blaine made the biggest mistake of his life and let his mother see the large bruise on his arm from the table he was shoved into after school.

He winced as she pressed her finger against the bruise again, a studying look on her face, her forehead creased in concentration. It was as though he was this interesting specimen to be observed and dissected. It didn't make any sense, yet it made all the sense in the world. His mother was a politician and his father was a scientist, so there was definitely a lot of active problem solving going on in the Anderson family.

Blaine sighed and tried to tug his arm out her tight grip but that got him nowhere but a thumb accidentally pressed against the black and blue mark. He jumped at the unintentional pain, eliciting a small tut from his mother before a cold ice pack was placed on the mark with a frown. "You can't be getting into fights, Blaine." She spoke evenly, in that tone of voice that showed that she didn't really care all that much so long as it didn't bring any negative press to their porch.

_Yes mother._ That's what he meant to say. What came out was something completely different. "I'm gay." And it was so completely off topic (yet on topic at the same time) that it was ridiculous.

He slowly raised his eyes to look at her, noting her closed off, glazed look, pulling his lip into his mouth and chewing on it, ignoring the sting from the cut that was already there. "Does your father know?"

Blaine shook his head slowly, letting out a steady breath because if she were asking about if his father knew or not that meant that she wasn't pissed about it, right? He didn't want to jump to conclusions but Blaine had always been an optimist. "N-not yet." It was barely a whisper and he vaguely recognized his mother's frustrated look before she was tearing herself away from her and standing across from him with her hands on her hips.

"You know the way things are, Blaine." Her voice was stern, sterner than Blaine had ever heard it, and her lips were pressed in such a thin line that it looked like she had none at all. "You have to ask for your father's permission before you do things like this."

"What?" And Blaine couldn't help it because honestly, what was she talking about? He had to ask for his father's permission? That made no sense whatsoever.

"Don't talk back to me." She snapped.

Only Blaine wasn't talking back to her. He honestly didn't understand what she was talking about. Did she think being gay was some sort of choice? Because it wasn't. Blaine knew it wasn't. He would never have chosen to be gay. Not if his life depended on it. "But, mother I don't understand-"

"That's it!" She snapped again, her hand flying out and pointing at the staircase. "Go to your room. I don't want to see you until dinner. And then you are going to speak with your father about what you want to do."

Blaine stared at her for a long moment, his brain trying to catch up with what was going on. This made no sense. Nothing on any of those internet boards that encouraged people to come out said anything about this. There had been horror stories of people coming out that didn't get a good reception, but there had never been a story like this. He didn't know how to respond.

But he trotted up the stairs anyway, sending a message to Mark and Gina once he had closed the door to his room, collapsing against the wood. He slid down until his butt bumped against the floor, his head falling into his hand and his brain whirring away to try and figure out what had just happened.

What had just happened?

* * *

6. That time he went to a dance at his decidedly homophobic school, had a great time, and then missed out on the funeral because he was out cold.

Mark had been dead set on going to the dance together the moment he heard about it. Thing was he had declared Blaine as the girl because he was younger and, therefore, he made Blaine ask him to the dance (since it was Sadie Hawkins and everything). He had made this big spectacle when he accepted, too, jumping up and down and yelling and hugging everyone in sight (even their bullies, which was actually rather funny to see) before grabbing Blaine by his forearms and planting a rather wet kiss on his lips and skipping away happily.

To say that that was how Blaine expected his first kiss to go would have been a lie.

Mark apologized once he realized that it had been Blaine's first kiss, but he hadn't apologized for the kiss and Blaine hadn't asked him to. Gina had just smiled at the two of them knowingly from behind her camera (she always carried around that camera, claiming that it was for some film project that she so desperately wanted to do about the average life of a teenage girl who had a hyperactive gay teenage twin) and made some smart ass comment that left Blaine blushing and Mark chasing her around the house.

But, anyway, it had been Mark's idea to go to the dance. And no one had bothered to try and talk them out of it. Cooper hadn't answered Blaine's email about it, and his mother and father were out of town so Blaine figured it was smooth sailing.

It wasn't like he was stupid or naïve or anything. Blaine knew that not everyone would be okay with the fact that two gay guys were going to a dance together. None of them had gone into this thing expecting that everything would turn out all wonderfully and no one pay them any mind or give them any crap. They just decided to have fun together anyway.

So Mark and Blaine and Gina had danced, and Gina had even been asked to dance by a rather attractive guy on the school's newspaper named Tucker and the group of them had all had a good time. There had been comments made, and looks traded and papers thrown but it wasn't anything that Mark and Blaine weren't used to by that time. It wasn't right, but it wasn't something that would cause them to leave the dance early. They were sticking it out for as long as everyone else.

Only when they were waiting outside for their ride things went wrong.

There had been yelling and screaming and taunts and laughter. There had been pain and tears and blood. God had there been so much blood.

People that Blaine had been friends with were standing on the sidelines watching. People that Blaine had played soccer with were laughing. People that Blaine had hung out with after school were cheering on the attack.

Lisa was yelling at them to stop. Lisa. Lisa of all people. The girl who had made all of this known before Blaine was ready for it to be known.

Gina was being held back by some of the guy's girlfriend's, her arms pinned behind her, her camera at her feet. Still recording. Always still recording.

Nate was kicking Mark's side, Justin was kicking everywhere he could at Blaine, Jimmy was getting something out of the back of his car.

Perhaps the worst thing that happened that night was that when the police arrived everyone had stayed and pretended to act concerned. Or maybe they really were concerned. Maybe Blaine had mistaken their yelling and jeering as encouragements instead of yelling at the boys to stop.

One of the boys decided to get in one last shot before the police were out of their cars, slamming their foot against the side of Blaine's head and then he was out cold.

The next thing he knew it was three weeks later and he was in the hospital and Cooper was there and his parents were there and Mark was dead. He didn't hear from Gina again. He was transferred to Dalton on Cooper's (Mrs. Montgomery's) insistence that it was better school than Carmel. Shelby Corcran had taken over the job of coaching Vocal Adrenaline after it was outed that the old coach had been the one to not call the police or stop the attack.

And he missed Mark's funeral.

* * *

7. That time when he was second in class after a year at Dalton.

By the time Blaine had finished his first year at Dalton he had been turned into a brand new person. His parents could barely believe it, he could barely believe it.

He was still himself. He still obsessed over Top 40 music, and loved musicals, and did dorky dance moves, and made ridiculous faces when singing. He was still obsessed with the storyline of "Stardust". He was still in love with comics and Doctor Who and Supernatural. He was still a huge fan of little known groups on youtube and he still thought Piper Halliwell was the most bad ass mother to ever be created.

But he was different at the same time.

Blaine was sharp, he was dapper, he was closed off and yet open at the same time. He smiled when he was happy and not happy. He was peppy, he read Vogue, he was the perfect image of a Dalton Boy.

He was also second in class.

And that was shocking. Second in class. Him. Blaine Anderson. The kid who was bullied for being gay. The kid who had transferred in the middle of the year had somehow managed to wind up second in class.

He should have been happy about it. Second in class was a huge accomplishment at a school like Dalton (at any school really). But, at the same time, being second in class at Dalton meant that Blaine was expected to stay second in class. Maybe even move up.

It didn't matter that the work load got harder, he had to do it. Or teachers would start looking at him with concern and asking him what was going on.

In the end, it meant that his father bought him a car in congratulations, a pat on the shoulder, and a date with the girl down the street.

It meant that he had to somehow juggle Warblers and school work and all those other clubs he had sort of joined without knowing that he joined them.

Wes helped him out as much as he could. The other boy had been immensely excited to find out that Blaine was going to Dalton, even though he knew why he was going to Dalton. The other Warbler guys were cool too and Blaine did feel accepted there. He did feel like himself at Dalton.

But... second in class... He didn't even know how he managed to be second in class. And it was just so much pressure...

He sighed and shoved his report card and other information in his satchel, turning around and shaking the guidance counselor's hand with a smile and walking out of the office and into the busy hallway. It was between classes on the last day of school and none of the teachers really cared whether you were in class or not, so Blaine decided to spend time in the music room. He ran his fingers over the piano keys, falling onto the bench with a defeated sound in the back of his throat.

He should be happy. He should be jumping for joy. He should be running through the school proclaiming his brilliance for all to see.

Only he didn't want to.

Being second in class only brought trouble.

* * *

8. Those times he was with Kurt.

It wasn't as though he regretted anything about his time with Kurt, because Blaine didn't. But Kurt... Kurt had been the person to build Blaine up and then tear him down simultaneously. It wasn't as though Kurt knew he was doing it – Blaine was pretty sure Kurt was oblivious to what he was unintentionally doing – but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

Mainly, Blaine's problem with Kurt was that he never really seemed to notice when Blaine was hurt.

But that was a stupid thing to say because Kurt did notice. He just didn't notice too soon? Maybe?

Or perhaps they had simply grown apart. Or perhaps they had jumped into the whole relationship thing faster than they should have. But, for all Blaine knew, he had been the most involved half when it came to their relationship.

He was always taking Kurt out on dates. He was always comforting Kurt when things went wrong. He was always showing up at Kurt's house. He transferred school's for Kurt. He dealt with Finn's crap for Kurt. He put up with bullying again for Kurt. He went to prom for Kurt.

But maybe that was him just being selfish again because Kurt had done plenty for him. Kurt just wasn't an overly showy person when it came to his affection. He liked holding hands and giving kisses on the cheek. He liked hugging and cuddling. He didn't like kisses on the mouth in public. He didn't like all of the physical affection that Blaine lived off.

But, once again, that wasn't Kurt's fault.

They had grown apart. But it had been painful. Kurt had went to New York and met up with Chandler again and with no Blaine there to distract him he had fallen for the other boy (or something). And they had ended up together. And Blaine was still in Ohio. And it wasn't Kurt's fault. Blaine wouldn't blame Kurt for taking that chance when it came at him. He would never blame Kurt for finding love.

He could blame himself for not fighting for Kurt, but, honestly, there wasn't much to fight for. There was something there – there would always be something between the two of them – but Blaine had this sinking suspicion that Kurt had only dated him because he was the first gay guy that had been nice to Kurt. Maybe there had been something there before – Blaine had felt something there before – but that had all gone away.

And now all anyone did was send him sympathetic looks when romance was mentioned. When Kurt was mentioned Tina would always look back at him with this look on her face. When Burt came to visit the school it was awkward because Burt obviously didn't know how to act around him anymore. When Finn came home for a few weeks before shipping out again, he hadn't even been informed of their break up and had starting talking to Blaine all about what Kurt was doing. And Blaine had just nodded along because, sure, he would know all about how Kurt had got into this community theater program if he was still dating Kurt. Sadly, he wasn't still dating Kurt.

It wasn't really Kurt's fault that things at McKinley got suffocating. But maybe it was Kurt's fault that Blaine had started thinking about how tired he was again. Maybe it was Kurt's fault that Blaine suddenly couldn't take the bullying anymore. Maybe it was Kurt's fault because Kurt wouldn't talk to him.

Or maybe it was all Blaine's fault.

Or maybe it was no one's fault. Blaine couldn't be sure. All he could be sure about was that when Kurt left Ohio just felt wrong and perverse.

* * *

9. Those moments he spent at Dalton.

Dalton was Blaine's safe haven for a good two years. Dalton had been home. Dalton had been the place Blaine could escape to if things got too hard or painful or if he just wanted to be someone he wasn't. Only Dalton was also an image of something that Blaine didn't want to be.

Dalton wasn't the real world. Dalton had rules that couldn't be broken. Dalton had traditions that made no sense. Dalton had reputations that if anyone were to break it they would get unmerited or something close to that. Dalton was as close to a mini-Congress or House of Representatives as a person could get.

Dalton was a fantastic school. It had a fantastic educational system and fantastic teachers and students. There wasn't really anything about Dalton that was bad. It just everything about Dalton had to be good.

There was nothing bad about Dalton. The food was near perfect. The halls were always clean. No one spoke out of turn. Everyone was respectful.

It was almost terrifying how close to a utopia world Dalton was.

Only, just like a utopia world, Dalton had some major kinks.

For one, Blaine found it nearly impossible to be exactly as they wanted. He was as close to the poster boy for Dalton as someone could get, surpassing Wes and David because he actually had a sense of humor that adults could understand that meant more than simply collapsing into piles of laughter. For another, Dalton had a really shitty punishment system when things happened off their school grounds.

After the Michael Jackson slushie incident (and wasn't that a mouthful?) and the administration did nothing to ensure that Sebastian and the other Warblers got punished Blaine had begun to notice all the things that were wrong with the school. It was still a lovely school. It still had some lovely administration and a great educational system. But it had a really crappy punishment policy.

And it let people with money control it too easily.

Not that Blaine was saying that Sebastian's father had interfered in any way when it came to his punishment for what had happened (or lack thereof) but there were plenty of kids on the waiting list to get into Dalton and it seemed that the ones that came from well up families got accepted easier than the ones from lower class families. It seemed as though they had only accepted Kurt because of Blaine's push. It seemed that they had only accepted Blaine because of what his mother and father did and because of Wes's spectacular recommendation.

Dalton was, to put it lightly, corrupt.

And that was such a horrible thing to realize. The school that Blaine had idolized for so long, the school that Blaine had looked up to as the perfect place, as a place where he could be himself, was just as corrupt as the public schools he frequented. It was worse, actually, because it hid it.

The administration still did nothing when Blaine was hurt. The administration simply sent him a bouquet during his surgery and tried to get him to go in for a session with the school's counselor and the rest of the Warblers to "talk through the problem". The school had done nothing when they learned that Sebastian had willingly tampered with the slushie (and no, in any way, was Blaine' problem with Sebastian, even if that guy had fucked up big time and needed to learn how to take no for an answer). He got off spotlessly simply because his father could have sued the school.

It was crap. And it was offensive and it wasn't the Dalton that Blaine had learned to love.

It wasn't the place that Blaine had fondly referred to as home. And he certainly had no friends left there after he left.

He didn't care how many times they would apologize or how many times they would try to contact him. It didn't matter. They had turned out to be worse than the people at Carmel.

Dalton had turned out to be just as bad as the place they said they would protect him against.

* * *

10. The time he spent at McKinley.

McKinley was somewhere completely different.

It was somewhere that was both wonderfully refreshing and horribly painful. Blaine made real friends and real enemies at McKinley. He could sleep through all of his classes because they were so easy.

His problem was the one place that was supposed to make him feel accepted.

Glee Club. First he had to deal with Finn's ignorance and jealousy. Then he had to deal with being left out because of the seniors. Then he had to deal with being passed over as a head of the club because he hadn't been there as long as Artie (and that was fine, Blaine wasn't selfish). The he had to be used as their secret weapon in each and every performance and Blaine hated it.

He hated that he had to act like a robot to make Mister Schue happy. He hated that Miss Pillsbury was such a crappy guidance counselor that when he had actually went to her for help she had told him to sing his feelings out. He hated that Tina had turned into a reincarnation of Rachel and was doing to Sugar and Joe what she had done to her. He hated how fake people were. He hated how people looked down on him because he wore bow-ties. He hated that he the teachers turned a blind eye to all the shit that was happening to him and others every single day.

He hated that he was turning back into the person he was at Carmel during his last few months at McKinley.

Blaine hadn't smiled a real smile since the first few weeks of Glee Club. He hadn't sang about his actual emotions since he had tried to sing "It Gets Better" by Fun only to have the club turn it into him missing Kurt. Even though it wasn't. And it was in appreciation for the fact that a kid at the school in a neighboring town had killed himself because of bullying.

Blaine was being shoved into lockers, he had slurs yelled at him as he walked down the halls. And he was sick and tired of it.

He was tired of being looked at in pity by the teachers. He was tired of people turning their backs and acting like it didn't happen because it did. He was tired of getting yelled at for standing up for himself when he would hit the jocks back.

He was just so fucking _tired_. And he was so _angry_.

It was around that time that Blaine actually thought about running away. It was around the fiftieth time his opinion was ignored during Glee Club that Blaine actually began to plan running away.

_If I wanted to could I live with you? _

He sent the message without thinking. It was stupid of him, he knew it was stupid of him. And he honestly didn't expect an answer because, let's get serious, Kurt hadn't talked to him in weeks. Not since they broke up.

But he did get an answer.

_Things at school suck? It will all be worth it once you get out of there._

And for some reason that answer pissed Blaine off more than anything else that had been going on. Maybe it was because Kurt didn't know. Or maybe it was because Kurt did know. Or, perhaps, it was because Kurt was the whole reason Blaine had even come to McKinley.

Or maybe Kurt was just the easiest person for Blaine to point this frustration at.

_Whatever you say. _

Blaine typed back with a frown, sitting back in the red chair and glaring at Mister Schue as he rambled on about something, the new members of the club hanging onto his every word. Joe nudged him in the side when his phone vibrated against his leg once more, nodding up at the front of the room where Mister Schue was gesturing for him to join him. Probably so that he could be New Directions's poster boy too.

Blaine swallowed thickly passed the anger he felt and grabbed at his phone, glancing down at Kurt's reply, hoping to see something to ease the pain that was gnawing at his heart.

_Is everything okay?_

_No._ And with that Blaine shoved the phone in his pocket and grabbed his satchel, throwing it over his bruised shoulders and walking out of the room.

It was on that day that Blaine decided to leave.

* * *

11. The moment he realized that he really, really needed to get out.

Blaine spun in his computer chair, his pen cap dangling in his mouth as he tried to figure out where he was going to stay when he left (and if he was actually going to leave or not in the first place). He sucked in a large breath, and turned up the music on his ipod, letting his head fall to rest on his Spanish text book, trying to calm down his breathing. It wouldn't do him any good to burst into tears over the fact that, for once in his life, he was doing something for himself.

He sat up with a deep breath, closing his eyes for the briefest of moments and pushing up from the computer chair. Hopefully his parents were done their evening activities for the time being and would be quieter, but Blaine doubted that, so he dutifully kept the headphones in. Just as he was reaching to pull down his jeans his headphones were forcibly ripped out of his ears and thrown across the room.

"Dad...?" Blaine asked slowly, backing up as much as he could, his knees hitting the bed and his eyes staring widely at his father. There was something terrifying about the way his father was looking at him- leering at him, really. His eyes were darkened in something Blaine really didn't want to acknowledge.

His heart sped up in his chest, pounding against his rib cage. "You should call up that boy of yours." His father's slurred speech made Blaine freeze. He had been scared. Blaine had been terrified. He had been petrified. He had been scared for his life. And yet, this fear... this seemed like the worst.

His father's large hands grabbed his wrists and pushed him onto the bed. "You look like your mot'er." His father had a predatory glint in his eye, he stunk of alcohol, he was holding onto Blaine's wrists too tightly.

"She's ou' cold t'ough." And then he was going for the zipper of his pants and Blaine was panicking and he couldn't breathe and no fucking way was this real. This wasn't actually happening.

"Stop it!" He tugged his hands away from his father, pushing his larger body off, yet being stunned when his father's fist struck him across the cheek. He landed back against the bed (and at least it was something soft and not something hard), the side of his face hitting the wall a bit harder than was necessary.

His father made another move towards him and never in his life had Blaine been happier that he learned how to defend himself. His raised his knee faster than he could see, his father collapsing in a roar of pain and Blaine shooting off the bed in less than a second. He grabbed his phone and the bag that had been half packed and ran out of the room as fast as he could.

He tripped over his own feet running down the stairs but he didn't bother stopping. He didn't look behind himself. He only looked ahead, pushing open the door and sprinting down the street.

He had to get out. He just had to.

* * *

Cooper stared down at his coffee in silence, Blaine sitting just as quietly across from him. Things weren't awkward, just heavy. The air was so heavy and Blaine's head hurt with all of the things he had just spilled out to his brother.

Him and Cooper had never really had that close of a relationship. They hadn't been the kind of brothers to tell each other everything. Cooper would rather have gone out with his friends than stay at home and babysit Blaine. Blaine would have rather made up his own games than play the ones Cooper picked out to play. The moment Cooper could he left.

Cooper let out a long breath, his head falling into his hands and his shoulders starting to shake.

Momentarily, Blaine was worried that Cooper was laughing at him, but he was soon shocked to learn that Cooper was crying. The Cooper Anderson was legitimately crying. Sobbing. Gulping air as though it was more precious than water because of the story Blaine had just told him. And he was doing it in the most composed way Cooper knew how to do. It wasn't an act. Blaine had only seen his brother cry like that once before and that was when he had to fully explain to Blaine that their grandmother was dead and wasn't coming back.

"Coop..." Blaine trailed off, his eyebrows furrowed in concern and his hand reaching out to touch Cooper's. His brother jerked back, his hands falling away from his face to reveal what was possibly the most painful expression Blaine had ever viewed on his brother's face. Blaine's own eyes threatened to spill over in tears but he pushed them back.

Cooper just stared at him for a moment, before he stood up from the table and stood with his back to Blaine. Blaine swallowed thickly, his hand trembling in the fist it was bunched into in his lap. "I am so sorry, Cooper." He forced himself to ground out because of course this was too much for his brother. Of course. It would be too much for anyone.

He made to walk out of the kitchen but was stopped by a hand pulling at his own. Before he knew it he was spun to face Cooper, the elder of them taking a moment to study Blaine's face. "Don't you _ever_ apologize." Cooper said seriously, gripping Blaine's forearms tightly. "You did nothing wrong."

Blaine found himself pulled into a rough embrace, the roughest the two of them had ever had, his face pressed into his brother's shoulder, his arms locking tight around Cooper's back and refusing to let go.

The two of them ended up staying home that day, Cooper not even bothering to call in to tell the producer that he wouldn't be there. They curled up on the couch and ate tons of unhealthy food and joked and laughed and watched horrible daytime television and, in the end, Cooper had left Blaine with a task that he would find himself completing as time went on.

The task?

Find somewhere he was happy, and make sure that he had more reasons to stay than to leave.

Blaine was tasked with finding reasons to stay.

It was a refreshing change.

* * *

1. He really, really needed to get out.

It was hard to say why California was where Blaine chose to run away to. He could have gone anywhere. He could have gone to Santa Fe, he could have gone to New York, Boston, Colorado, Chicago, Nevada... And yet, out of all of those places, he chose to run to his brother in California.

He hadn't been planning on staying in California for any longer than was necessary.

Yet, the moment Cooper opened up the door to his apartment and blinked at Blaine in shock Blaine hadn't been able to do anything less than throw himself at his older brother. He didn't care that Cooper's girlfriend was peaking out of the bedroom they must have shared. He didn't care that his brother was asking him what was wrong in a pretty panicked voice. He didn't care that he looked like crap and felt like crap because he was just tired.

And Cooper felt safe.

Compared to how Ohio had felt California was heaven.

It was as though the moment he was inside Cooper's apartment with his brother sitting next to him on the couch holding an ice pack to his cheek he could breathe again.

It was weird, and Blaine honestly wasn't used to the feeling, but he wasn't about to not accept it when it threw itself at him.

The fact that Cooper's girlfriend didn't even blink at him when he said he was gay was a major plus. The fact that people didn't look at him as though he had a disease was something Blaine relished in. The fact that he had seen countless couples holding hands (both homosexual and heterosexual) within his first day in California nearly gave him a panic attack, and yet once it sunk in Blaine was pretty sure he was dreaming.

He cried the first time Cooper told him he didn't have to talk to their parents. He cried the first time he talked to Sugar on the phone.

But, besides Sugar and Joe and Coach Beiste, Blaine made no effort to talk to anyone from Ohio.

Hillary sat down next to him on the couch, wordlessly holding out a mug for him to take, a smile on her face. "So, how's it going, Bumble-bee?"

It was three months into Blaine staying in California, about a week after Blaine had fully told Cooper why he had left Ohio. Hillary was a wonderful girl, someone that Blaine would have never expected Cooper to get with until he moved in with him. Her soft crimson hair was cut short, and her clothes were baggy and she screamed artist with a capital A but she was an amazing person. "Pretty good, Hill." He smiled back at her, running his hand down his dark green t-shirt and letting it rest gently on his jeans and staring down at the notebook in front of him. "You?"

"Oh it's going wonderful now that I've seen you." She winked at him, leaning forward and quickly pecking him on the cheek. The two of them ignored Cooper's indignant yell from the kitchen and turned to pour over Blaine's music notebook, Hillary commanding him to teach her the tune to it so that she could sing it to herself at work.

And, for some reason, he felt so completely at peace that it was almost unheard of.

* * *

2. California felt like home.

It was an odd feeling.

Home.

Blaine wasn't really used to it.

Yet, it seemed that as time went on, California was turning into home for him. No longer was it just "Cooper's apartment", it was "The apartment". It helped that they now moved into a bigger apartment with Hillary in tow, but Blaine and Hillary had taken to decorating the place the best they could. Cooper helped out in between auditions and call backs and filming and Blaine was actually more than a little surprised to find out that his brother was actually pretty good at acting once he stripped away all of the obnoxious quirks he had believed to work.

"Coop! We're out of beer!" Hillary yelled from the kitchen, her butt sticking up in the air and, usually, Blaine would have choked on the water he was drinking but he was getting used to the way people acted in California compared to Ohio so he shrugged it off, walking passed her and grabbing an apple out of the basket on the table.

Cooper let out an anguished moan from what was his and Hillary's bedroom, a bang following soon after. Blaine rolled his eyes fondly, taking a bite out of the red fruit and leaning his hip against the counter. "This is horrible." Hillary shut the refrigerator and fell down in a heap on the kitchen floor.

"You are so dramatic." Blaine noted dryly, a small laugh pulling itself from the back of his throat, his eyes shinning just a bit.

"You don't understand, Blaine." Hillary spoke as though it was painful to do so, tugging on his leg. "We. Have. No. More. Beer."

"Pretty soon we're going to have to resort to drinking that stuff mom and dad sent us and no one knows how long we'll survive off that." Cooper whined appearing in the doorway and clinging to the frame as though his life depended on it.

"Whatever are you going to do." Blaine stated with a raised eyebrow, a small smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth.

"Well if someone would pay their share of the rent we wouldn't have to worry." Cooper tapped his finger against Blaine's nose in an exaggerated motion, his blue eyes bright and playful, a smile pulling at his lips.

Blaine's breath hitched for a moment. He knew he should have a job by now, but no one was hiring students who weren't even enrolled in a school yet. Cooper and him had been working on it, and Cooper had told him not to worry about rent until he had the money to worry about it and... "But I need to go see that Eagles cover band." And Cooper was talking about Hillary. Of course he was talking about Hillary.

Cooper rolled his eyes at her, ruffling Blaine's hair as he passed by him to the refrigerator and writing down beer on their grocery list. "You need anything, Bee?"

"We're almost all out of toilet paper." Cooper nodded, scribbling that down too before reaching inside the refrigerator for a bottle of Gatorade.

"Awesome. I'll pick it up on the way home tomorrow. Think we can hold up until then?" Hillary spoke from her spot on the floor.

"Just don't take any large shits and we will, Hill." Cooper winked at his girlfriend, poking Blaine's stomach in an attempt to get him to move over and spaz at the same time. It had the desired effect, but it also had an undesired effect when Blaine's fist slammed into his shoulder. "Ow!" He rubbed the spot indignantly, glaring at his brother who simply glared back at him.

Yes... Blaine believed he found a home in California. Weird as it was.

* * *

3. Cooper made him.

Yes, there had come a time when Blaine was planning on leaving California.

He had been overcome with this intense fear of what staying in California was going to do to him. He had been overwhelmed with this worry that things there were too good to be to true because, honestly, how many times had places that felt like home to him ended up not being as good as originally thought? Plenty. Blaine wasn't stupid. He knew that it was only a matter of time before California stopped feeling like home and started feeling like hell.

Only he wasn't as good at hiding how he was feeling from his brother. Or so it seemed. It was either that or Cooper had stumbled across the brochures he kept in his bottom drawer in his dresser when he was looking for a missing sock.

He had come home from the library down the street (where he had just been interviewed for a job) to the sight of a very serious looking Cooper sitting in the living room. "Hey Coop." Blaine said slowly, nudging off his shoes and making his way into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

"Come here." Cooper's voice is quiet and solemn and that's when Blaine knows that something serious is going on.

"Everything okay?" He asks lightly, sitting down on the seat beside the elder of the two.

"You tell me." Cooper turned his blue eyes onto him, the orbs piercing more than they usually did.

"Everything's fine." Blaine assured uneasily. But he was an actor. He could pull this off.

"Don't lie to me." Cooper snapped. "I taught you how to act, I recognize my own tricks, Blaine."

They sat in silence for a moment, Blaine picking at the paper on his water bottle and Cooper just studying him before he fell back into the couch with a sigh. "You're not leaving, Bee." Cooper stated.

"Coop-"

"You don't have my permission."

"I don't need your permission."

"Yes you do." Cooper noted softly. "You left Ohio because no one gave you a reason not to. Now stop running and stay somewhere. You're safe here. And you don't have my permission, or my approval, in leaving. And you need that. Emotionally and mentally and you know it."

And Blaine did know it. Angry tears prickled at the corner of his eyes. "I don't need your approval."

"But you need someone's." Cooper leaned forward, grabbing Blaine's hands in his own and searching for his eyes. Blaine refused to hold his gaze. "I'm all you have, Bee. I'm not losing you again."

* * *

4. He got a better education.

It was rather shocking to find out that the public education in California was just as good as the private education in Ohio, but it was. The first time Blaine got a project he was a bit surprised to note that it was on a topic he hadn't done three projects on already. He wasn't going to a private school – they just didn't have the money without calling in reinforcements from their parents and they really didn't want to do that – but really this really big public school that had four floors and around 1000 students each year.

Blaine figured it was unusual to be transferring into the school his senior year but no one even blinked an eye. The school was full of Advanced Placement courses, many of which Blaine was surprised to find out he was qualified for. They had an amazing music program and student advisers to help out where guidance couldn't. All in all, after Blaine's first week he felt like he was in college and that he was being sufficiently challenged. Unlike what any of his previous schools – except maybe Dalton – had done for him.

Blaine settled into his seat in the computer lab, a bit put out that no one sat beside him, but not enough to freak out. He was the new kid again – the new senior from Ohio – and he knew how to play the new kid. He spun the chair a bit to pick up his notebook from his bag, smiling lightly at the girl who stepped on his strap when making her way to her seat across from him. "Sorry." She apologized smoothly, frowning at herself and letting out a frustrated sigh, her green and white cheerleading shirt crinkling as she moved her arms to stretch.

"It's fine." Blaine reassured easily enough, sending her a tiny disarming smile as he flipped open his notebook.

Her eyes narrowed in calculation, a small smirk pulling at her lips as she leaned in closer to him. "You're the new kid, right?"

Blaine glanced up at her, raising his eyebrow a bit and nodding slowly. "Blaine Anderson."

"Shea Kristlyn." She took his hand in her own, shaking it a bit. "I've heard that you sing."

"How'd you hear that?" Blaine cocked his head to the side, trying not to let her know that he did sing, and that music was a bit like his life. As much as he loved the music program it wouldn't do him any good to join it once the competition season had already started.

"A little birdy told me." She winked at him, smoothing out her skirt and leaning closer, her elbows resting on the top of the computer to look down at him. She tilted her head to the side, her brown hair falling into her eyes. "Then again, I could just say that the music teacher is dying to get you to join the show choir here and call it a day."

Blaine blinked at her. "You have a show choir here?"

"Of course." She smiled at him, her eyes lighting up in a way Blaine thought was absolutely beautiful. "And you'd be a great asset if what we've seen from competition videos is true. Might even win us Nationals." She studied him for a moment, noting how his eyes looked away from hers and stared down at his notebook, his cheeks a bit red and a small smile on his face. "Think about it, okay? We meed after school every Thursday in the auditorium."

"What about my classes?" He asked slowly, raising his eyes to hers, a shy expression that one usually did not associate with Blaine Anderson painted over his face.

Shea scoffed, sitting back in her chair and rolling her eyes at him. "Are you kidding? You and your second in class ass are amazing the teachers and pissing off the people in the top ten. If anything you'll drop down to fifth in class by graduation."

* * *

5. The kids that lived next door.

Perhaps one of Blaine's favorite parts out of living with Cooper were his neighbors.

The Grady's had this nasty habit of working rather late, and their babysitter had this nasty habit of never actually showing up, so it ended up being Blaine's job to watch over the kids in between school and his shifts at the library. It wasn't a problem, not really, because the kids were actually all kinds of adorable.

There was Bethany, the youngest, who liked to draw and jump up and down on just about anywhere. She was three.

There was Kevin, the middle child, who liked superheroes and racecars and baseball. He was seven.

And there was Riley, the oldest, who liked horses and princesses and Harry Potter and anything that had to do with magic. She was ten.

It seemed, to the Grady's, that Blaine was the best choice for a babysitter after their regular babysitter started being the one that the kids hated. For those three kids it was always: "can we go over and visit Blaine?" or "can Blaine and Coop watch us today?" or "Hill makes really funny faces, can we show you mommy?" It was a nice feeling to know that these three kids looked up to him so much that he was a frequent topic of conversation at dinner. And, to top it all off, he was practically adopted into the Grady family when Cooper started going to more auditions and Hillary started getting known for her art and Blaine was home alone for dinner.

It was as though the thought of him eating alone bothered them. It wasn't even that frequent of a thing. Cooper and/or Hillary were almost always home when it came time for dinner, but all of their schedules tended to act opposite each other. Cooper worked almost every afternoon, Hillary worked almost every morning, and Blaine worked whenever he wasn't working.

But, anyway, the kids next door were adorable and they were great. Blaine loved everything about them. He loved how Riley had trouble with her math homework and would cry every time she got to a problem she didn't understand – even if he secretly hated that too. He loved how Kevin would pretend to be some superhero whenever he was asked to do something. He loved how Bethany was obsessed with reading and getting all of her work done on time. He loved how they all looked at him for answers to their questions when Blaine couldn't even answer his own questions.

Sure, sometimes they asked some uncomfortable questions. Like, why did mommy and daddy send them next door on their anniversary. Like, why did Bethany grow in mommy's belly. Like, why didn't Blaine have a princess yet and, why, if he wanted a prince, did he not have one of those yet either. Like, why did Hillary have that red spot on her pants (that one was secretly, or not so secretly, Blaine and Cooper's favorite question they asked).

But they were kids and Blaine honestly didn't expect anything more. Which could have been why when the Grady's told him they were moving he felt like sobbing with the three crying children.

"Wendy got a new job offer over at the Hollywood studios and it pays great. But we have to move out there." Daniel had told him with a small frown and a loud sigh of 'what-can-you-do'?

Blaine had shook away the anguish fast enough, shaking Daniel's hand and letting himself be hugged when Daniel asked for one. Daniel who was a big man that reminded him immensely of Burt Hummel, only with less awkwardness. But maybe that was because Daniel lived in California where things like being gay and liking musicals weren't frowned upon. "It's fine, Dan. If you need anything you know where to find me."

"You'd be willing to drive forty five minutes a day to watch over these rascals?" Daniel pressed Bethany's head against his side, laughing at her indignant whine.

Blaine smiled softly down at the kids, Bethany smiling back up at him in her clueless way, her teddy bear dangling from her mouth. "Of course." He shrugged. "They're good kids."

"You're a good kid." Daniel pointed out. "Don't be a stranger, Blaine. I expect you over for dinner three times a month."

* * *

6. The stray cat.

It's around October when Blaine finds the stray cat on his walk home from the library. It's cool out (for California) and the sun is just starting to set, painting the sky in a nice hue of orange and pink and purple. There are kids squealing from the parks around him, the general buzz of the area filling Blaine with a peace he didn't know he could have.

And then he heard a soft meow and he paused and he was a bit freaked out to feel something soft rubbing against his leg until he looked down and saw a small orange and black cat with the smallest pink nose that Blaine had ever seen. It was in that instant that Blaine feel in love with the little cat, kneeling down and letting him smell his fingers, a small smile breaking out across his face. "Hey sweetie." He cooed, the cat purring and rubbing against his fingers. Blaine wanted nothing more than to take the poor thing home, yet that was sure to be impossible for him to do until he figured out if the cat had a home or owner. Or if Cooper would allow him.

"You're all dirty." He noted almost absentmindedly, stroking the cat's soft fur with gentle fingers.

"Woody!" Blaine felt a pang of recognition at the voice, and a small spike of fear, but he pushed it down, smiling down at the cat who perked up at the yell. He ignored the small installment of disappointment at the thought that the cat had a home, petting her fur and keeping her in the same place as the sound of jogging footsteps lead to him. The shoes that stopped at his line of vision were shinny and black and ones that symbolized someone who did some sort of job that needed them to look presentable. "Thanks for finding him, I'm pretty sure Casey would have murdered me if I let him wander off."

"It's no problem." Blaine stood up, wiping his hands on his pants and blinking up at the man before him, shock quick to cover his face.

The man on a bright yellow wind breaker, showing that he was valet for the hotel across the street. The black screen tee that was showing out from under it screamed that he hadn't quite grown up all the way yet. Sunglasses were perched on his nose – the classic kind of sunglasses that Blaine had always thought would look great on him but didn't say anything about because that probably would have made things awkward. "Anderson?" Noah Puckerman blinked at him in wonder, a smile spreading across his face and his sunglasses quickly being wiped off his face, his brown eyes sparkling at Blaine.

"Puckerman?" Blaine couldn't help the way his voice sounded a bit strained, a small blush painting across his cheeks when Puck pulled him into a tight hug, his arms crossing around his waist and holding him tight against his chest for a moment before letting go. Puck's hands rested on his forearms, his eyes eagerly taking in the sight of him. If Blaine hadn't known that Puck was honestly a sweetheart under his asshole exterior he would have been scared for his life.

"What are you doing here, man?" Puck asked him with a eagerness on his face, leaning down to pick up the cat – Woody – and holding him tight to his chest. "Come on." He jerked his head towards the hotel and Blaine really wasn't sure why he followed Puck, yet he did. Maybe it was because he worried about the cat's safety or something.

"I live here." Blaine supplied easily enough, going for the easiest explanation possible and shrugging off the questioning look Puck sent him.

"Like finishing up school or dropped out of school? Cuz I can tell you, man, if you dropped out you're insane." Puck knelt down behind the valet station, pulling out a small bowl of hard cat food and placing Woody in front of it, the orange and black cat eating it as though he hadn't eaten in days.

"No, I didn't drop out." Blaine reassured. "I just... live here now."

"With your brother, right?"

"Yes...?" And maybe he was a bit freaked out because, out of all people, why the hell would Noah Puckerman – someone he hadn't spoken to for around a year – know that he lived with Cooper?

Puck laughed a bit, nudging his shoulder. "I remember shit, man. Especially about people that I think are worthwhile." He winked at Blaine, relishing in the small blush that was coating the younger boy's cheeks. "And you are definitely worthwhile."

* * *

7. His job at the library.

The one job Blaine never thought he would actually love was working at a library. But, honestly, he didn't have to deal with rude customers and there was really only one stiff old lady that he worked with but she was nothing compared to the people is father made him socialize with. It was a good job.

Usually he stacked shelves and read to the children but, sometimes, he would find himself at the desk, putting the cards in the books. It wasn't often that Blaine did that work at the front desk, but a day in November found him right at that front desk, helping a sweet old lady locate where her book would be found.

Bethany was sitting in the corner, looking at at a book with Kevin when Puck walked in, followed closely by Hillary. Not that they knew who the other was or anything. But it was still odd that the two of them walked in together. "... Right down that isle, mam." The old lady smiled at him, patting him on the hand and walking away muttering something to her husband about nice young men. "How are you doing, Bethie?" Blaine asked the young girl, nodding when she held up a thumbs up and turning back to the history book he had kept on the desk.

A worn copy of Stardust landed on the desk a few minutes later, Blaine's heart involuntarily picking up speed and his head slowly raising to look up at the person who wanted to take it out. Puck smiled at him with a surprised look, leaning his elbows on the desk and casually flicking Blaine's collar. "We need to stop running into each other, Blainers."

"I didn't know you read." Blaine chose to ignore Puck's previous comment, idly picking up the book and smiling at the familiar title. "Never would have figured you as a fan of Gaiman."

"I can read." Puck insisted, an almost insulted look on his face.

"Uhuh." Blaine nodded in fake agreement. "Then how come I never once saw you pick up a book?"

"Just 'cuz you didn't see it doesn't mean it never happened." Puck shrugged, poking Blaine's arm and snatching the book out of his hand. "And Gaiman is a genius."

"Guaranteed you started reading just because you wanted to impress someone."

"You got me." Puck sighed, his head falling onto his open hand and his brown eyes staring at Blaine curiously. "Is it working?"

Blaine raised an eyebrow at him, pushing down the beating of his heart and the blush that was threatening to cover his cheeks. "No. Not really." Only it kind of was, since Stardust was his favorite book but there was no way Blaine was going to be telling Puck any of that. Especially after the guy just started talking to him again.

True, they had run across each other quite frequently now that Puck knew that he worked close to where Blaine lived but that meant nothing. Puck wasn't even gay – or bisexual or anything besides heterosexual – so there was no reason for Blaine to be getting his hopes up. "Damn." Puck let out a long suffering sigh. "Guess I'm going to have to use my next trick."

"And what's that Puckerman?" Blaine flipped open his history book, going back to reading about the Civil War with a bored expression (the Civil War was actually kind of boring, but Blaine could deal with it since it was a fantasied version of Abraham Lincoln).

Puck's eyes stayed on him for a moment longer than was necessary and Blaine was actually starting to think that he had left when Puck's hand pushed his book down and basically made Blaine look up at him. "Go out to dinner with me."

"What?" Blaine blinked at him in surprise.

"You. Me." Puck cleared his throat, his cheeks reddening a bit. "Dinner?"

"Wha-why?"

"Because I like you." Puck stated in a rush, his cheeks becoming redder by the second, his shoulders shrugging and his eyes looking away from Blaine's for about a moment too long for him to not be lying. Though Puck actually was a fantastic actor...

"Okay." Blaine blinked at his own answer, shocked to find a smile pulling at his lips.

"Okay?" Puck asked hesitantly, looking up at him with wide brown eyes.

"Okay."

"Okay." He ignored Hillary's open mouthed stare in the background in favor of smiling at the young man in front of him and trying to fight down a blush.

* * *

8. His friends.

Blaine had never really expected to make friends so fast when it came to California. It wasn't that he was naturally shy or anything, because he wasn't. But the speed that he had picked up a group of friends was absolutely insane. He hadn't expected it.

There was Shea, and Garret, and Brianna, and Luke, and Paula, and Matt, and, of course, there was Puck. But Puck wasn't a new friend or anything.

Blaine still talked to Sugar and Joe more than anyone probably would have expected out of the three of them, and, by the time winter vacation had come around, they had started planning a trip out to California for their spring break. But Blaine had friends in California – he had _best friends_ in California. It was more than he had ever had in Ohio.

Shea plopped herself down on the seat beside him, tugging on his curls and holding out a neatly pressed envelope. "I'm having a holiday party at my place this week. I want you to be there."

Blaine raised an eyebrow at her, accepting the envelope readily enough. "And why's that?"

"Because, hello, you're the nicest guy in this school." She teased back, sitting in the seat with her arms crossed over her chest. "Plus you have a plus one. Bring that cutie that picked you up a few days ago with you."

Blaine tried to push down the blush that was beginning to coat his cheeks at the mention of Puck's unexpected arrival at his school a few days before to bring him out for coffee as a 'thank you' for paying for dinner the last time they had gone out. "He's probably working." Blaine mumbled.

"The guy's going, Bee." Garret pushed from the seat in front of them, turning around to face him, his pink shirt a sharp contrast to his dark skin.

"We need to have a word with him." Luke nodded in agreement, trying to be menacing by cracking his knuckles, only succeeding in hurting himself.

"Cooper needs to have a word with him." Paula pointed out with a small laugh, punching her brother in the arm and receiving a glare from an offended Matt.

"Does Cooper even know?" Brianna asked with a scrunched up face.

"Know what?" Blaine questioned in desperation, trying not to let his frustration at being questioned like this show.

"That you and cutie are together." Shea supplied, nudging his shoulder with her own.

"We're not together." Blaine reassured, picking at the envelope in his hands.

"Don't lie, dude." Luke looked almost terrified at the thought of Blaine lying. "We couldn't have corrupted you that much."

"I'm not lying!" Blaine insisted, throwing his hands up in surrender. "We're not together."

"But you want to be." Brianna pointed out.

"And he wants to be." Garret concluded with a shrug.

"No he doesn't." Blaine rolled his eyes at them.

"Oh come on." Shea looked insulted that he would even think that Puck didn't want to date him. "He so wants you."

"Back off." Blaine pushed. "I'll go to your party. And I'll ask Puck about it but he might be working. Christmas is a busy time at the hotel."

"That's all I ask." Shea reassured, pecking him lightly on the cheek.

"But we're not together."

"Blaine... we're your friends. You can't lie to us." Sometimes he wondered if friends were supposed to be as aggravating as his were.

* * *

9. Wes Montgomery's sudden reappearance in his life.

The moment Wes Montgomery came back into Blaine's life was so seamlessly done that it seemed almost as though it had been planned.

They literally ran into each other on the street, Wes muttering to himself about something and Blaine with his head down looking at the text message that Cooper had just sent him asking him to pick up milk when he had collided into Wes.

Their things had gone flying and, honestly, it was as though they were in a movie. Some sort of romantic comedy. Even though there was no romance in their relationship but still.

"Oh my God." Wes fell down into the seat beside him a few weeks later, dropping his large pile of books on the table. He stayed silent while Blaine scribbled down the last line in his English essay before raising his eyes to his friend, tilting his head to the side, a small smile on his face. Wes smiled back for a moment before frowning again. "Tell me, how do you deal with a pushy girlfriend?"

"Same way you deal with a pushy boyfriend?" Blaine asked slowly, furrowing his eyebrows and looking at Wes in a confused manner.

Wes surged forward, grabbing Blaine's shoulders and shaking him in desperation. "She wants to have sex more than I do, Blaine. More than_ I _do."

"Well that's certainly a development I never wanted to hear." Blaine tugged his arm out of Wes's grip. "Have you tried talking to her about it? Or maybe you should just get a new girlfriend. I mean the two of you have been having problems ever since you got together." Three weeks ago, Blaine thought to himself, watching as Wes sunk back into his chair, a contemplative look on his face.

"Maybe." He shrugged, tapping his finger on his chin, a small smirk pulling at his face. "How about you and Puck? You still 'not dating'?" He even did that obnoxious little finger quotation thing. Blaine wanted to punch him. And everyone else that asked that.

"Wes, I swear to God." Blaine warned; his was pen the most threatening thing he had at the moment so he had no qualms about shaking it in Wes's direction.

Wes chuckled, holding his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. Still nothing. I got it." He winked.

Sometimes Blaine wondered if having Wes back in his life was a good thing or a bad thing.

Mostly it was a good thing.

Or maybe Blaine just thought that because Wes wasn't against buying him lunch just so that Blaine could be his own personal gay Doctor Phil.

* * *

10. When Cooper spontaneously made it big.

No one expected Cooper to ever be anything more than a commercial actor. So it was a bit safe to say that everyone was surprised when he landed a big part in a big movie and, almost overnight, was being invited to things like red carpet parties and balls and things that very famous people attended.

It was as though Cooper was suddenly this well known actor.

He had fangirls and fanboys and blogs made about him and paparazzi and it was _insane_. But the joy it brought his brother...

Goodness it was like Cooper was a mixture between high and hyper all the time.

It was then that Blaine knew that acting was what Cooper was meant to do with his life. Cooper didn't act because he wanted the royalties that came with it (even though that was a major plus) but he acted because it was something that he loved to do. It was like Blaine with music. It was a part of him. It was something that he literally could not breathe without.

And, because of that passion, Cooper had landed a big part in an even bigger movie and was invited to a huge party at the hotel a few blocks down from them. Hillary was his date and Blaine was left at home (not without an invitation but he had Regionals to prepare for) with a bowl of ice cream, a notebook full of sheet music, and the television playing the event as loudly as he dared in fear of pissing off their neighbors.

Hillary looked lovely in her bright blue cocktail dress, and Cooper looked stunning in his own suit of choice (or of Blaine's choice because Cooper's fashion sense was basically just jeans and a t-shirt with, maybe, a jacket). Pictures were being snapped of the couple from all sides and Blaine could have sworn he saw a glint of tears in his brother's eye and he was sure he was going to tease Cooper about it until the end of time when he got home but, at that moment, Blaine was too busy wiping away his own tears of pride to do much teasing.

They were being interviewed by some reporter for E!News, talking about the movie Cooper was filming in when Blaine was thrown off by his brother's answer. "... And, actually, what I draw from for my character is a bit of a mixture. I'm half Robert Downy Junior and half Blaine Anderson."

Blaine perked up, as did the reporter, noting the glint in his brother's eyes and the look Hillary was giving him – a particularly fond look. "Is Blaine Anderson your father?" The reporter asked with a mock stern sound in her voice.

The look on Cooper's face when he was asked that question was priceless though, as was the loud laugh that came barking out of his mouth before he answered. "God no. Blaine is my kid brother." He sobered in less than a moment. "But, I mean, while Robert Downy Junior is great and all, Blaine's been through so much. And he's still this amazing person. He's amazingly talented and he's so incredibly humble... He's just basically this less actiony version of my character. Keep an out for him sometime. He'll be standing right next to me on one of these things dedicated to him." He shrugged, winking at the camera.

"Love you, Bumble-Bee!" Hillary yelled over his shoulder before they were turning away from the camera and marching into the building.

Blaine didn't really care about the rest of the red carpet event after that.

* * *

11. The amazing people on his blog.

Blaine had a blog. Yes, he was a typical teenager in and had a blog.

It wasn't a well known blog (or at least it wasn't well known until Cooper got famous and Blaine mistakenly posted some pictures of Cooper and him and Hillary) but he had his loyal followers. He posted basic stuff, really. Text posts, songs that were currently stuck in his head, things like that.

Until he decided one day, for the hell of it, to post an audio post of himself singing "Happy Birthday" to one of his friends on his blog and all hell broke loose. Or maybe it wasn't all hell, but, suddenly, Blaine was getting comments and followers and reblogs and things that he had never expected. _All over a simple "Happy Birthday" to a friend_.

He swiveled in his chair, biting at his thumb nail until it was nearly non-existent, trying to keep down the very uncharacteristic squeals that wanted to pass through his lips when he caught view of what people were saying about his latest cover.

They were all mostly nice things – of course they were, what else had Blaine expected – but there was some negative. But the thing was that they weren't anything horribly hurtful. They weren't anything that Blaine couldn't deal with. He had dealt with worse – so much worse – and all those years in Ohio must have prepared him for negative feedback because all he could seemingly focus on was the good feedback.

And, on top of that, there was an overwhelming support for his "not-relationship" with Puck. It was crazy. People would reblog the pictures that were put up of the two of them from their various outings – or Valet Adventures as Puck liked to call them – and talk about how they were the cutest couple they had ever seen. People would message him to ask him about how his latest "date" with Puck had went.

And it seemed as though nothing he said would depute the fact that, to many of them, they were dating.

But, really, the people who followed him were amazing. They made him feel like he was on top of the world just by commenting. They made him feel like he could be whatever he wanted to be just by sending him a quick "sounded perf" or an emoticon or trying to be friends with him.

He never could have had that in Ohio.

He never could have had the courage to start his own blog in Ohio. He never would have had the courage to post his own music on the internet if he was in Ohio. He never would have been able to have the courage to tell his story if he lived in Ohio.

And there was just something so amazing about that.

There was just something so incredibly amazing about the fact that people supported him that had never met him that he would have never experienced had he stayed in Ohio.

* * *

12. The first time he was on television.

The first time Blaine was on television was because Cooper was on television and Hillary was home sick in bed.

Cooper had woken Blaine up at six in the morning by throwing a pair of jeans on his head and yelling at him to get up because they were going to be late. Late for what Blaine hadn't known at the time, so, of course, he didn't bother really doing his hair – simply throwing in a really minimal amount of gel and trying to grab is morning coffee. Only to be stopped by Cooper grabbing hold of his arm and yelling out a goodbye to Hillary before pulling him out of the door. And Cooper didn't stop until they were seated in his car and pulling onto the highway to get to the middle of Hollywood.

Cooper hadn't even bothered telling Blaine where they going, he just drove and muttered a bit to himself under his breath before pulling up to a stop outside of the studio. Blaine hadn't even known what he was supposed to be doing until he shoved next to Cooper and they announced that they were there for the whole audience to hear.

And it was about that time that Blaine just about stopped breathing.

Cooper had to literally pull him onto the stage and push him down into the offered seat before Blaine had started to breathe again.

The interview went well enough – and Blaine somehow managed to not make a complete fool of himself.

Somehow the producers had managed to find pictures of him and Cooper together when they were younger and video clips of them together as they got older. Somehow – and Blaine entirely blamed Cooper for this one – they had managed to get hold of their performance of Hungry Like The Wolf/Rio that they had done for the New Directions. And, for some unknown reason, they had decided it would be a good idea to show that to the world (and Blaine still had no clue how he managed to get onto the piano without killing himself).

But, all in all, it had been a great experience. Blaine hadn't embarrassed himself and, somehow, he actually managed to get more recognition because of it, the video of him and Cooper going viral in less than an hour.

That was yet another thing that never would have happened had he stayed in Ohio.

Yet, for some reason, even the television show host seemed to think that him and Puck were together.

That was another problem all together.

* * *

13. Running into Noah Puckerman.

Blaine and Noah had a weird sort of relationship.

Everyone thought that they were dating, even though they weren't. Everyone wanted them to be dating, including them. They acknowledged each others feelings, yet they made no move to act on them.

It was a bit like a game of cat and mouse (or so it seemed).

Noah would always be bring Blaine out on his "Valet Adventures" - where Noah would "borrow" the cars of the people that left them in his care and drive out to random ass places just for the heck of it, making friends with the locals and taking plenty of pictures – and Blaine would always sing for him (sometimes Noah would even join in on the singing). They would hold hands sometimes, they would hug, they would tease one another... It was driving their friends insane.

And it was driving _them _insane.

It was obvious that they wanted something more, yet they made no effort to make it into something more.

Maybe it was because Blaine was afraid that what him and Noah had would turn into what him and Kurt used to have and the sort of awkward relationship they had now. Maybe Noah didn't want them to turn into what him and Quinn had now. Maybe the two of them were simply over complicating matters.

Perhaps that was why on one of those countless "Valet Adventures" they had ended up on one of the many underpopulated beaches and their lips had found one another by pure accident. Blaine had been reaching for his book at the same time that Noah had leaned forward to peck his cheek and then, bam, their lips were on each other and neither of them were making a move to back away.

It was electric. It was amazing. It was shocking.

Blaine's heart had jumped up into his throat and Noah had moved to back away after a long moment but he had stopped the moment Blaine's arms wrapped around his neck and he had pulled him closer, his book falling out of his hand and the two of them smiling into the kiss.

"I'm blaming you for why we didn't do that sooner." Noah whispered after a few moments, nudging Blaine's nose with his own. Blaine's back was against the sand, Noah's valet jacket in a bundle under his head so that he didn't get sand stuck in his hair. Or something like that.

"It's really as much your fault is it was mine." Blaine corrected quietly, his hand running up and down Noah's arm in a teasing manner.

"Naw." Noah wrinkled his nose at him. "I was waiting for you."

"God..." Blaine heaved a deep breath. "Please explain to me how you can be such a jerk and such a romantic at the same time."

"It's a talent." Noah winked at him, looking almost too happy that Blaine laughed at him before leaning down to claim his lips once more.

Running into Noah Puckerman was possibly the best thing that California ever brought Blaine.

* * *

14. The options for college.

Okay, this one was for purely selfish reasons.

Ohio had perfectly good colleges. But Ohio didn't have colleges that specialized in things like music and theater. Ohio didn't have colleges that basically catered to Blaine. But California did. And those colleges were _really good_ colleges.

And the atmosphere...

Blaine was completely thrown off balance (seemingly right after he had regained it from the move to California) when he stepped on campus of Berkeley. People were so kind there. People payed him mind, but not too much mind to make him uncomfortable. His tour guide was excited to hear that he played guitar and piano and just about everything else on the face of the planet. Three of the other people touring felt mediocre when they found out that he not only sang but he wrote his own music (even if it wasn't the best music ever).

Perhaps the best part about the colleges were that people seemed as though they genuinely cared about music and theater and what Blaine was planning on doing with his life. The moment he stepped on campus he was no longer Blaine Anderson, Cooper Anderson's little brother. He was Blaine Anderson, budding musician and senior in high school.

Noah had tagged along on one of his visits and perhaps one of the most amazing thing about the colleges was that there were no looks sent their way when they linked their fingers together. Or when Blaine switched to having his arm around Noah's waist. Or when Blaine had dropped his notebook and Noah had bent down to pick it up, giving Blaine a quick kiss before handing it back.

The reasons he loved the colleges in California mostly surrounded the way they reacted to his addiction to physical affection. Could he probably walk on a school campus in Ohio holding hands with his boyfriend? Probably. But Blaine was pretty sure there was just something a lot more comforting about doing that in California.

* * *

15. His parents when they visited for almost no reason.

They had only done so once and that visit hadn't exactly ended well. For anyone involved.

Perhaps the first problem was that they hadn't bothered telling anyone that they were coming and had just shown up one day. They had called Cooper for a ride back to his apartment from the airport and Cooper, having been completely stunned, hadn't even bothered to go pick them up. Hillary hadn't bought enough food to feed five people when it came to dinner. And Blaine... well Blaine just really didn't want to see either of them.

So, basically, the visit was forced on all of them.

Things had gone as smooth as could have been expected the for the first two nights. It was the third night that things went wrong. Maybe it was because that night Blaine had actually not had plans for dinner (even though he really wished he had taken up Brianna's offer to go over her house for the rest of the week) or maybe it was because Cooper had finally gotten fed up with the snide, second hand comments their father was making.

The moment Blaine walked through the door everything had started going to shit.

His mother had started off their conversation by commenting on his clothes and how "honestly, Blaine you look like a bum". Hillary had looked personally offended because she was friends with the designer and Blaine felt some urge to point out that the sweatshirt wasn't his but was actually his boyfriend's but he wisely kept his mouth shut.

His father had sat in a chair in the corner with a stony look on his face and a glint in his eye that was almost predatory and, rightfully enough, Blaine had stayed plastered to Cooper's side the whole night.

Halfway through dinner Noah had showed up because the hotel got shut down early and Cooper and Hillary had told him to stop by whenever he wanted to so long as they didn't hear anything beyond kissing. That had been awkward enough but Blaine had honestly nearly collapsed at the sight of seeing Noah's sturdy presence in the doorway. Cooper had welcomed him into the apartment with open arms and Hillary had looked absolutely relieved that he was there. His hand was sturdy on the small of Blaine's back as it fisted in his shirt as he had to shake his father's hand with surprising restraint.

But, anyway, they had sat down to finish dinner.

And then Quentin Anderson just had to open his mouth and say something to ruin the whole night. He put his fork down on his plate with a loud clamor, his eyes looking down at his plate and his mouth set in a thin line. "When are you going to stop living in this fantasy, Blaine?"

His stomach had nearly dropped out of his body and his mouth was suddenly very, very dry and Noah tensed up in a defensive position. As had Cooper and Hillary. Blaine wondered who the first one to snap would be. "I'm not going back to Ohio." Blaine's voice sounded stronger than he expected it to be, a tiny quiver in his words and his hand curling into a fist against his leg.

"Blaine what do you expect to gain from this little... _display_ you have going on?" His mother gripped his own from across the table, her eyes earnestly searching out his own.

"I'm happy here." Blaine insisted, trading a cautious look with a steaming Cooper.

"You're throwing your life away." Their father plowed on, glaring at the two of them. "And because of what? Because Ohio was the real world?"

Cooper's own fork banged against the silverware, a positively vicious look on his face. "You know why he left Ohio, father."

"Your father's not talking to you, darling. Hush now." Their mother placed her hand on Cooper's arm, squeezing it in what she must have hoped was a reassuring manner.

That didn't work as well as she expected, obviously. "You don't get to tell him to be quiet in his own house, Mrs. Anderson." Hillary snapped, gripping Cooper's hand tightly on top of the table.

And, for a moment, absolutely unhidden hatred shone on their mother's face as she gazed at Hillary. "You will hold your tongue when you talk to me, har-"

"You finish that sentence and you will never be able to visit here again." Cooper's voice was absolutely lethal. It would have scared Blaine if he hadn't been secure in the fact that Cooper was supporting not only his girlfriend, but him as well.

The kitchen was silent for a long moment, Blaine trying to figure out what else he could say to break it and make it less tense – less awkward. Because that was his thing, wasn't it? He was the person who fixed things. He liked fixing things. Noah's hand found his, lacing their fingers together and bringing them up to rest on top of the table cloth. The parents could barely hold back a disgusted sneer. "I'm not going back to Ohio." Blaine repeated in a much quieter voice than before, determination clear in his eyes.

"This is nonsense!" Their father threw his napkin at the table, his hazel eyes boring into Blaine's own. "You're throwing away your whole future as a doctor for what? This dream of yours to be a musician? For this man?"

"I'm _not_ going back to Ohio." Hillary's hand squeezed his knee in support.

"I bet you just spread your legs for him anytime he wants-"

"Get out!" Cooper snapped. "Get the _fuck_ out."

"Cooper you will not speak to us that way-"

"Leave! What is it about this that you two don't understand? You screwed up! You screwed up big time and you keep screwing up! Just _leave._"

"We're not going anywhere without our son-"

"_I am not going back to Ohio_!" Hillary jumped at Blaine's raised voice. Blaine never yelled. He never got angry. Not like this. But he was. He was so angry. He was done. He was hurt and insulted and he just wanted them to leave so that he could go back to the way things were. So that things could go back to be being good.

"Blaine you don't know what you're doing." His mother insisted, a begging look in her eyes. But Blaine knew she didn't really care about his future or his decisions. Why would she? She never had before.

"I am sick and tired of people telling me that I don't understand. Or that I'm making a mistake. For once in my life I'm happy. _Why_ can't you just _let me be happy_?"

It was after that that their parents had finally left. It was after that that Blaine had broken down and just cried. It was after that that Cooper had stormed out of the apartment yelling obscenities and muttering something about how he needed to go find something to beat up or he was going to track down their parents and kill them. It was after that that Hillary had followed after him, bringing him to her art studio where the two of them could do some angry splatter painting or something. It was after that that Noah had held Blaine and told him that he loved him.

* * *

16. Winning Nationals.

That one had been a surprise. Nationals had been in Chicago that year and, by pure coincidence (or maybe it had been by divine fate or something) his show choir was going up against the New Directions (and a ton of others schools but Blaine didn't really care much about any of them except Vocal Adrenaline and the Warblers. The latter of which hadn't even made it to Nationals). Tina hadn't gotten a solo. Artie hadn't gotten a solo. Joe hadn't gotten a solo. Sugar hadn't gotten a solo.

No. Instead, Mister Schue had decided to give the solo's to the new members that were trying a tad too hard to be like the old members.

And their songs, while sounding good, were nothing compared to a show choir that could easily pull off a capella and ballads and dance numbers flawlessly. Not that Blaine was bragging or anything but it was true.

Sugar and Joe had known that he was competing against them. The other members did not (of course they didn't. Blaine made no effort to talk to any of them) and the only warning that they had gotten was a status update on facebook. Joe had warned him that Tina and Artie and the others were a bit close to freaking out over the prospect of seeing him again, but Blaine paid them no mind.

Shea and the others had promised to keep him as far away from the other members of his old club even though he hadn't asked them to. Garret had put on the most menacing face he had in his back pocket, Paula was ready to claw out eyes if anyone came close, and Wes was in his lead Warbler mode so Blaine figured he was safe. Plus Noah was in the audience and so was Cooper and Hillary and, obviously, Wes so Blaine could handle being positive.

There was more press than there probably should have been at the event purely because of the fact that Cooper was there with his adorable girlfriend to support his kid brother (and, somehow, the two of them had become this major internet obsession).

Mister Schue had tried to corner Blaine but their own director had sent him away with a glare and a well timed order from the food cart.

But, anyway, they did their performance with Brianna pulling off a wonderful version of "No Good Deed" from Wicked that would have put Rachel to shame, Garret and Luke and Blaine and the rest of the guys lead a fun dance number to "By Surprise" by Gemini Club, and, lastly, their acapella performance of "Sk8ter Boi" that Blaine and Shea lead stunned the judges.

It was possibly the best performance that Blaine had ever pulled off in his life.

Blaine didn't know who filmed it (he suspected Hillary) but somehow it had ended up on his blog (which was probably Noah's doing) and had gone almost viral.

The whole win probably would have been less satisfying if the New Directions hadn't looked positively put out by his reappearance and Kurt hadn't been in the audience singing along to every one of the songs his show choir performed with an almost proud and disappointed look on his face.

Why that made him feel so much better was beyond him.

But he had gone out with his brother and his brother's fiance and his best friend and his boyfriend for dinner once they had made it back to California to celebrate the win and full ride to Berkeley (along with Cooper and Hillary's recent engagement) and for once the thought of Ohio hadn't made him want to cry.

* * *

17. His boyfriend.

Once they got their act together Blaine and Noah had a generally simple relationship. There was no over thinking of things (unless those were plans and, sometimes, emotions). They fought over mundane things, but what couple didn't? They moved at a pace that was comfortable for both of them (because it seemed that after high school, Noah had gotten to the point where he wanted something real and not just sex – or after high school he had finally admitted that to himself).

But, anyway, they had dates almost every week, even though they weren't what other people would refer to as common dates. Mostly they were Noah taking them out on one of his "Valet Adventures" or them walking through a park and trying to find an ice cream truck.

There was no reason to worry about the security of their relationship and that was something that was so _nice_ and refreshing.

To put it simply, Noah Puckerman was almost the most perfectly imperfect boyfriend in the whole world.

He had this habit of interrupting Blaine when he shouldn't be interrupted. He would always spill whatever drink he had, most of the time the drink spilling on something Blaine had been writing on or had been wearing. He had this habit of just saying the crudest things in the most inappropriate places. He had this problem with sitting down in one place too long. Noah had the cutest freckles that were randomly placed around his body. He had next to self control. He didn't have any idea of what being subtle meant and he wasn't the brightest bulb on the tree.

But, for some reason, he was so perfect.

It wasn't even true perfection because Blaine, for some reason, couldn't help but find all of the things that Noah did wrong as things that Noah did right.

There were moments where Blaine would get frustrated beyond words (and times where the same thing would happen to Noah) but, somehow, Noah always managed to do the right thing to get him to forgive him.

And then there were the times where Noah just blew Blaine away by doing something completely selfless and kind and thoughtful.

Like when Noah had shown up at Blaine's house with a kitten under his arm and Chinese food in his other hand.

The kitten had a bright yellow bow-tie on it's pure black neck, the animal's bright blue eyes staring up at Blaine in a way that should have been illegal. "Oh. My. God." He said in wonder, his hands instantly reaching out to grab onto the small kitten, his heart almost falling out of his chest as the thing's tiny mouth opened and let out a high pitched whine. "Noh..."

Noah smiled down at him, pushing his way into the apartment with a gentle hand on Blaine's side, and placing the Chinese on the kitchen table. His arms crossed around Blaine's waist, linking in front and kissing his neck gently, his stubble rubbing against the sensitive skin. "Do you know what today is?"

"Thursday." Blaine choked out, resisting the urge to hug the kitten obnoxiously close to his chest and simply melting against the warm body behind him as the kitten nuzzled into his hand.

Noah kissed his jaw, resting his chin on Blaine's shoulder and reaching out a hand to pet the kitten's tiny black head with his pointer finger. "The anniversary of the day this little guy's daddy brought us together again."

Blaine looked up at him with misty eyes, pulling at his neck until the two of them were attached at the lips in a soft kiss. "I love you so much." He breathed out against Noah's jaw, turning around to hug his boyfriend tightly, nuzzling his face into Noah's neck and kissing a bit at the skin there.

"I love you too." Noah hugged him back until the kitten meowed in it's high pitched way and pushed their head against his chest, forcing the two of them apart to play at the stings of Noah's pull over sweatshirt with batting tiny paws.

* * *

18. How he unintentionally ended up become a head for the LGBT movement.

It was the fault of some other person's blog actually. He didn't even know who this person was, and he didn't even know about the blog until Sugar had stumbled across it and flipped out.

The blog was a series of videos made by this really sweet and adorable girl named Megan who had fierce opinions and probably around 2,000 followers (that number had increased to 5,000 after she started her video series about him and Noah).

Megan was apparently this girl who _lived_ at the hotel Noah worked at. She also one of those people that blogged at the same time everyday and just so happened to look out the window and see the moment Woody had made Noah and Blaine meet in California and not Ohio. Incidentally she had habit of photography too, and she had been snapping random pictures when she had first seen their meeting and decided to blog about how to people bonded over a cat.

And then she decided to blog about how she saw the same people everyday standing outside the same hotel falling in love. Two very _male _people.

It was crazy. But she even somehow managed to rope other people in on "spying" on them.

Noah and Blaine had a fan base that followed their relationship like it was a television show.

And imagine the blogger's surprise when she stumbled across Blaine's blog and Noah's Twitter set up for his "Valet Adventures" and put two and two together.

Imagine Blaine's surprise when he started getting messages about how he was so inspiring and so real and so talented.

The first time someone told him that he saved their life he started crying. And he hadn't been able to stop crying until a good thirty minutes later and a panicked Hillary had started crying with him.

The first time he got a video message telling him how inspiring he was and how his story had saved their life and made them believe in love he had felt as though his heart was going to explode within his chest.

The first time he was asked to be a guest on a talk show (him, not Cooper and him, him all by himself) to talk about how he had singlehandedly become a leader of the LGBT movement for equality he didn't even believe it was real until five days after they had taped the interview.

* * *

19. Build A Bear.

When one of their "Valet Adventures" brought them to a mall in San Francisco they had decided to do the most ridiculous thing they could find in the mall. And that somehow ended up being Build A Bear.

There was line of children inside of the store and parents either sitting off to the side or looking at the piles of not stuffed toys and clothes and accessories with their children.

Blaine had been the one that was iffy about actually going through with their decision, but Noah had dragged him in and eagerly grabbed two stuffed bears of different shades, shoving the lighter one at Blaine and taking the darker one for himself. "I'm making me. You're making you." Noah stated simply, getting in line behind all of the children to get their animal's stuffed.

"You are such a child, Noh." Blaine stated slowly, with a small shake of his head, a fond smile playing across his lips.

Noah looked down at him, winking and turning to the teenage girl in charge of being overly peppy and filling their bears with fluff. While the look she gave them was embarrassing enough, Noah made Blaine do all of the jumping up and down and hugging and growling that she asked them too, doing them himself with an overly eager look on his face.

Noah made him pick out the clothes for his bear, doing so himself, and then they created the obligatory birth certificates.

It was all rather fun, Blaine found himself easily admitting to that.

They switched bears in the car. Blaine ended up walking through the door of the apartment with a cardboard "house" and a teddy bear that was dressed up like Noah under his arm. He ignored the look Cooper sent him, placing his bear on his bed and smiling a bit at the leather jacket, black ACDC t-shirt, and dark blue jeans the toy was dressed in (his own was wearing a bright pink bow-tie – that had originally been a bracelet for a girl bear – over a purple suit shirt with black pants and pink suspenders – to match the bow-tie, of course).

The teddy bear – affectionately nicknamed "Puck-Bear" - ended up being Blaine's vice for whenever him and Noah were fighting, or couldn't see each other, or when he just felt like he needed a hug. Especially when Noah decided to make Puck-Bear more manly and spray him with his cologne.

* * *

20. The year Noah and him tried to figure out what to get each other for Christmas without notifying the other and failing miserably.

Both Blaine and Noah had forgotten to buy each other Christmas presents. Cooper found it hilarious that Blaine almost had a heart attack when he remembered that it was the week before Christmas and Hanukah and he hadn't gotten Noah a thing.

And then Hillary had run into Noah at the hotel and had been shocked – elated actually – to find out that Noah hadn't gotten Blaine anything yet either.

Blaine both hated Cooper and Hillary and loved them because they found the whole thing rather hysterical and refused to help him without laughing and calling them adorable.

The whole debacle had ended with Blaine and Noah running into each other around twenty times at each different store they went to and, somehow, that meant that they had to come out with an excuse as to why they were there without giving away the real reason. Which then meant that they ended up buying so many pointless gifts that they couldn't return in fear of the other person seeing that they were returning it.

And nothing for the other person.

Until the day before Christmas when it was actually snowing in California and the stores were busy as fuck and somehow Noah's car just had to break down and Blaine just had to be in the same place to keep him company – except Blaine didn't have a car of his own and had sort of been relying on Cooper for a ride home and Cooper had gotten stuck in traffic.

They ended up sitting in Noah's car with coffee and the radio playing Christmas carols softly in the background until Noah had to shut off the car all together to save gas.

Then they decided to do an impromptu performance of all the Christmas carols they knew – even making a few up because they were just that talented – with the guitar that Noah kept in the trunk sitting on the side of the road.

"I didn't get you a present." Blaine blurted out as they put Noah's guitar back in his trunk in order to go get another order of coffee and hot chocolate before they froze to death (because while it wasn't New England cold it was still cold for a night in California). Noah burst out laughing, his hand slamming down the trunk of his car, his forehead resting on the cold metal. "I'm not joking." And Blaine sounded so miserable, anguish and disappointment clear in his eyes.

Noah looked up at him, tears of mirth in his brown eyes, a wide smile on his face, his dimples pressed against his cheeks. "I didn't get you one either."

And, suddenly, Blaine was laughing too and Noah was grabbing him by the waist and kissing him and hugging him and for some reason it was so incredibly perfect.

They spent that Christmas in a room of the hotel Noah worked at free of charge – thanks to the fact that no one knew that they were staying in there and the old lady who worked the counter and thought they were adorable – singing duets, playing with teddy bears, watching old Christmas specials, and making love.

It was probably the best Christmas either of them had had in a long time.

* * *

21. Gina's movie.

Blaine hadn't talked to Gina since he transferred to Dalton. It was rumored that Gina and her family had packed their bags after Mark's funeral and moved back to where ever they used to live. It must have been some sort of twist of fate that they had met again.

Gina had taken to telling Mark's story. She had made a movie and put together a massive presentation and traveled to schools across the country (and soon to be across the world) to make sure nothing like what happened to him happened to anyone else. And it just so happened that, on the day that Blaine was visiting his old school with Shea and Garret and Luke and Brianna and they were helping out with the show choir while Mrs. Peterson was on maternity leave, she was presenting her movie.

It also just so happened that Blaine was in said movie and mentioned more than once (only not by name because Gina wasn't rude enough to put him in it fully without his permission). About ten minutes in Blaine had had to leave the auditorium and dry heave in the bathroom – the faculty bathroom because he could use that now. Gina had followed, a look of confusion and worry on her face.

"Blaine? Is that really you?" She knocked on the door, her voice trembling. It was then that Blaine fully broke down. It was then that he had wrenched open the door to the bathroom and wrapped her in a tight hug and just held on as if his life depended on it.

It turns out that Mark had inspired thousands of more teenagers than Blaine could ever dream of inspiring.

* * *

22. When he was cast in the Newsies.

He had tried out on a whim – one that he never expected to get him anywhere. Hillary had actually pushed him to do it. She had also been the person to wait with him backstage and hold him off from running away the moment they called his name.

Blaine didn't get stage fright. But Blaine also didn't try out for Broadway musicals with little to no experience everyday.

He finished off the song in a flourish, his eyes closed and his hands in tight fists at his side. Yes, this was his thing. But this was also such a huge risk...

The director of the musical was silent and Blaine just knew that he must have screwed up somewhere along the line. He must have gone off key. He didn't have enough passion. He hadn't shown the want to get out and leave and have a better life as well as he could have. God he had made a total fool out of himself. He had gotten his hopes up when it was so obvious that there was no reason for him to do so...

"Your dancing need a bit of perfecting." The director commented almost lazily, and Blaine opened his eyes slowly, drawing his arms down to his sides and biting at his bottom look. "Your vocals would need a bit of polishing... But other than that..."

Blaine's breath hitched and his hazel eyes were wide in expectation. The director pressed the pen against his lips, staring up at Blaine with a calculating look in his eye, a slow smile breaking across his face. "Other than that... I think you would make the perfect Jack."

Blaine froze, playing the words over in his head. _Did this mean...?_ "Of course, there are plenty of other people who are getting a callback but, you... you're my favorite so far. What's your name, kid?"

"B-Blaine. Blaine Anderson." Blaine stuttered out in complete amazement that somehow managed to stay out of his voice. He pressed his lips together tightly.

"Well... I do believe we must do this right, yeah? Can't have people saying they didn't have a fair choice." The director winked at him, his hand scratching at his gray beard. "So... come back here next week, same time, for callbacks. But I have to tell you kid... you are the best we've seen in a long time."

"T-thank you, sir. It'd be an honor to be a member of the cast." Blaine bowed his head in a nod, hurrying off the stage and the dull lighting. He grabbed onto Hillary's arm and dragged her out of the building, all the while the reality of what happened not hitting him.

And it didn't hit him until they were halfway to the apartment and Hillary was saying something to him about how it was at least worth a try and that the musical would simply suck without him. He stopped mid-step, his eyes wide and his hands coming up to cover his mouth. "... And honestly, Bumble-Bee, some horribly cast kid will get the part and flop in their first show and... are you okay?"

Hillary turned back to look at him, worry on her face. Blaine stared at her with wide eyes. "I got a callback." He whispered, turning away from her and dragging his hands down his face, a laugh pushing it's way passed his lips.

"Blaine?" Hillary asked hesitantly, coming up to stand next to him, her hand pressing against his arm.

"I got a callback." He whispered to her, a slow smile spreading across his face. It was probably one of the moments that Hillary had seen him at his happiest, his hazel eyes sparkling as he picked her up in a giant hug, before placing her firmly on the ground and jumping up and down a few times.

"Oh my God!" Hillary squealed with him, pulling him into an even tighter hug.

"He said I was the best he'd seen in awhile and that the part was basically mine and... I GOT A CALLBACK!"

Yes... that was something he owed completely to Hillary.

* * *

23. That party that changed everything.

Noah's hands covered his eyes as he walked him down the pavement, their bodies pressed close against one another in order to keep Blaine's balance. Music was playing softly in the background, voices from the party going on in Shea's house filling up the late hour with a dull buzz and roar. They may have a been a bit drunk, but not enough to really effect the way they would think of things.

"Can I look yet?" Blaine asked, stumbling over one of the lawn chairs and nearly collapsing into it. Noah let out a soft laugh, his breath tickling Blaine's neck as he leaned close.

"One second." Noah pushed them a few steps forward, removing his hands from Blaine's eyes slowly, taking a step backwards. The scenery was beautiful but it wasn't anything new. Blaine had seen the stars in the sky and the view of the city from Shea's house dozens of times. It never managed to take his breath away but it wasn't anything truly... _special_. Not at the moment anyway. Not when there was a party they could get back to.

"Noah what's going on?" Blaine asked cautiously, and with a little annoyance in his voice because, yes, the two of them had recently had a fight. It wasn't anything too horrible, but it still wasn't anything that Blaine was ready to let pass just yet.

"Turn around." Noah commanded softly, and Blaine couldn't help the frustrated sigh that passed through his lips as he turned around to face Noah, a protest on his lips.

But the protest died when he turned around to see Noah on one knee before him. His jaw dropped open, his hands flying up to cover his mouth and his eyes widening. "W-what are you doing?"

"Just be quiet for a second, okay?" And usually a comment like that would have made Blaine pissed – especially considering that they had been fighting earlier in the day – but now... now Blaine couldn't find anything to do but nod slowly, his lips pursing together. Noah took a deep breath, blinking up at him, a small smile on his face, but mostly a nervous glint to his eyes. "You know I'm not all that great with romance and shit." Blaine nodded wordlessly, biting his lip and staring at the man in front of him in absolute wonder. "But I... It's like that song you know? All this time – every single moment that I've lived – I was waiting for you. You're... you're the best thing in my life, you know? When I first met you I was blown away. When I left Ohio I didn't think I'd ever see you again and it just hurt even though I couldn't figure out why. But then Woody brought us back together and I was happy just being with you but now..."

"Noah if you don't ask me now I think I might burst out crying and ruin the moment." Blaine said thickly, a small teasing smile on his face, but tears actually glinting in his eyes. His heart felt as though it was going to beat out of his chest.

Noah blinked up at him. "Will you marry me?" He held out a silver ring, complete with a small red stone in the middle, two diamonds surrounding it. It shook in his hand and Blaine couldn't help being amazed that Noah hadn't dropped it yet.

"You don't even have to ask." Blaine sighed pulling Noah up towards him.

"Say it." Noah begged, their lips barely inches apart.

"Yes." Blaine breathed, the ring sliding onto his finger and Noah's arms wrapping around his waist, their breath meeting in a slow yet passionate kiss.

It wasn't like in movies where people knew before hand what Noah had been planning. No one started clapping and cheering for them because no one knew. But no one had to know. At least not at that moment.

* * *

24. Opening night.

Opening night was stressful, but it was so worth it.

His co-star, Oliver, was seated to his left at the make-up station, powdering his cheeks so much more than was necessary. Nancy, his other co-star, was pacing the in corner, repeating her lines as though she were about to give a speech before the president. Blaine, himself, was a basket of nerves. The quiet energy was enough to have him buzzing as the director came around to stand behind him, handing him a neatly wrapped box and wrapping him in a hug. "You're going to kill them all, kid." The director, Ryan, reassured him, holding him an arms length away and smiling at him in that proud way that parents were supposed to look at their kids.

"I'm nervous as heck." Blaine breathed out with a small laugh, blushing a bit, and rubbing at his neck. Oliver gave him a side-glance, his eyes bugging at the sight of Ryan's disapproving look at the amount of powder he had on, scrambling to wipe it off with a tissue.

"Let the music fill you up." Ryan's hands were heavy on his shoulders. "Don't think about the audience. Just remember that you're having the time of your life."

It was worth it when they received a standing ovation and Blaine clearly heard Cooper yell from the audience that "THAT'S MY BROTHER!" It was worth it when they made it onto the Broadway stage in New York with honors. It was worth it when the entire cast was nominated (and won) for a Tony. It was worth it when Blaine somehow managed to win a Tony for his role of Jack Kelly. It was worth it when he saw Rachel's face of amazement in the audience. It was worth it when he went home to his husband and their cat but all of that wasn't until three years after opening night.

* * *

25. Cuddling.

Blaine was constantly surrounded by cuddle monsters. As much as he liked cuddling, he was not the person to usually initiate the contact. No... that was usually either Cooper or Hillary or Garret or Wes or Shea or Noah or the kitten.

Currently, Blaine was being cuddled by the not-so-tiny kitten on the couch, the kitten's tiny pink nose poking his chin and forcing him to pull his attention away from his book every other second. Blaine wrinkled his nose as her whiskers scratched at his cheek, her purring louder than the television that was crooning softly in the background and Noah's soft breath in his ear.

Noah let out a sigh, nuzzling farther into his shoulder and pulling his arm tighter against Blaine's waist, grunting in his sleep.

Blaine let the book fall to the ground, watching the kitten squeeze closer to his side and allowing his head fall against Noah's, his eyes fluttering shut.

There was just something so peaceful about laying around and doing nothing. And perhaps doing that with Noah was his favorite part of the day.

The apartment held a lazy still to the air, doing nothing more than making Blaine and Noah lethargic and spend the day half asleep until their eyes drifted closed and their breathing evened out. They would stay blissfully sleeping until the kitten would decide that she wasn't getting enough attention and nudge her head against one of their chin's, meowing loudly in both their ears, shocking Noah comically out of sleep when her rough tongue ran along his cheek.

* * *

26. Sea World.

Cooper was actually the person that made Blaine go to Sea World. The two of them took to acting just a bit like children every time they stepped into anything with an aquarium – which was something that went all the way back to when their grandmother brought them almost every week to see sea animals. Hillary refused to go to Sea World with Cooper for their second anniversary, claiming that it wasn't romantic enough, so Cooper brought Blaine instead.

"I'm actually a bit shocked that I never brought you here earlier." Cooper said with a small frown, slinging his arm around Blaine's shoulders and leading him down the hallways towards the whales, an excited hop to his movements.

"I can't believe you thought Hillary would like this more than me." Blaine kept an offended tone to his voice, shoving Cooper's side a bit and trying not to act like an excited little kid when he heard the first sound of the whales.

Only that didn't work as well as he had hoped, him and Cooper glancing at each other and breaking out into a run towards the exhibit, standing near the edge beside the mass of kids unashamedly. "This is so awesome." Cooper breathed out in amazement, a sparkle in his blue eyes.

"I will never forgive you for not bringing me sooner."

"I will never forgive myself for not bringing you sooner." Cooper spoke almost tonelessly, gripping Blaine's arm tight in his hand, an eager look on his face. "You want to see the penguins?"

"Holy shit yes." Blaine let himself be pulled away from the whales, sending them one more look over his shoulder before jogging after Cooper towards the penguins.

"Can I count this as a birthday present for you?" Cooper asked as they leaned over the edge to look at the penguins as they jumped into the water and swam towards the people handing out fish for them to eat.

"No."

"Damn it."

* * *

27. Disneyland.

It was actually Blaine that dragged them – and when Blaine says _them_ he means him and Noah because Cooper and Hillary were on vacation - to Disneyland. He had his reasons – mainly the fact that it was _Disneyland_ and he had yet to go to Disneyland.

Noah hadn't been against it, per say, he just hadn't been all for it. Until that one day where Blaine and him decided to act like tourists and do all the typical tourist activities. They went on all the rides, took pictures – obnoxious pictures, yet pictures all the same – with every Disney character they could find. They made friends with other tourists. They had the ridiculously overpriced dinners. They stayed in the hotels on the resort. They stayed up until three in the morning each day just doing random stuff. They ordered room service – an over amount of room service – and made friends with around ten children.

And all of that had been on their first two days.

On their third day they decided to tone things down a bit.

And their idea of "tone things down" was basically not taking serious pictures anymore.

Noah had taken pictures with all of the Mickey Mouse crew in the most ridiculous poses. Blaine had sang duets with three princesses – the most daring ones, of course. By the forth day Noah had somehow managed to become the personal enemy of Mickey, and Blaine had managed to get asked out on a date by Ariel.

It could have been said that it turned into a bit of a competition between the two of them.

Only it wasn't (only it really was and they just didn't want to admit it).

They ended their trip with a visit to the gift shop, buying all of their friends presents – Blaine even managed to buy Cooper a pair of bright pink boxers with Sleeping Beauty on them, although how he found those were beyond even himself – and even buying themselves something small.

It was, overall, a fun trip. Worth the money and the memories and the time off work. It was worth the fact that Blaine had lost his phone on one of the rides. It was worth the fact that Noah had forgotten to bring his charger so they ended up being cut off from all outside contact until they had made it home.

It was just the perfect random vacation.

* * *

28. The cliff where he could go to think.

It was the day before the wedding and Blaine felt the need to just runaway.

He wasn't going to – of course he wasn't going to – but he just... he needed to think.

So, on a whim, he put his phone on silent and drove out to the middle of nowhere cliff that overlooked all of San Francisco, grabbed his ipod and headphones and just _thought_.

Some would think it unusual that Blaine tended to runaway from things when he needed to think – and that his recent runaway spot was a cliff in the middle of nowhere – but it was just what he did. It was just that... well sometimes things got to be too much and Blaine's insecurities took over and he just needed to distance himself from the general population for awhile. That was probably one of the things that Blaine would forever miss about living in Ohio – no one really cared enough about him to bother him when he needed to think.

Though, to be honest, all Blaine would have to do in California would be to tell Noah that he needed a moment and tell Hillary and Cooper that he just needed to take a break and they would all give him just what he needed. Except he had tried that this time.

And because it was the day before the wedding it seemed as though no one really heard him.

So Blaine had come to the cliff that overlooked San Francisco to think about what exactly it was that he was going to be doing the next day.

It wasn't like he regretted agreeing to marry Noah. It's not like he was having second thoughts or anything. He just needed a moment to breathe without the constant worry about how things were going to go hanging over his head. Blaine was at the point where he was tempted to just take Noah and elope just so that there was no pressure to make everything perfect. Except, Blaine wouldn't do that. It wouldn't feel right not having Wes and Joe and Sugar and Shea and Garret and Luke and Brianna and Cooper and Hillary and Coach Beiste there.

By some moment of insanity Blaine had invited certain people from his past – like Rachel and Tina and Finn and Kurt and his parents and Sebastian and Quinn and Santana and Nick and Jeff and David and Gina and Megan (the girl who started the blog about him and Noah). He didn't know why he did it, besides the fact that the New Directions were like family to Noah and he wanted them to be there, whether Blaine did or not.

Santana had shockingly been a lot of help in the passed few weeks, coming to California early to help them set up. She had grown softer with the years, which might have had something to do with her wife and their little boy. She had given him a knowing look when he had said he was going out for a drive, telling him softly that she would give him two hours before she let Noah and Cooper and Hillary start worrying.

But, anyway, this whole marriage thing... It was a big step.

It was a step Blaine knew he was ready to make.

He just needed a moment.

He just needed to let it all sink in.

* * *

29. His apartment with Noah.

It was more like a flat than an apartment but it was a fantastic place. It wasn't too big but it wasn't too small. It wasn't crappy like most people's first apartments. The style wasn't over done. They had furniture and counters and everything that they needed.

Including privacy (and so did Cooper and Hillary since Blaine had moved out, even though they had been sad to see him go) and their cat.

"Can we just lie in bed all day?" Blaine mumbled into the pillow, his body bare except for the sheet around his waist. Noah leaned over him, resting his chin on the middle of Blaine's back and teasing his sides with dancing fingers, causing a laugh to ripple from his lips.

"I'm fine with it. Besides the fact that we need food." Noah kissed the back of Blaine's neck, nuzzling into the skin there and relishing in the small sound of contentment that came from the motion.

"Damn it." Blaine yawned, turning his face in Noah's direction, the other man plopping down on his side of the bed, laying close so that their noses were almost touching. "Wish we had room service." Noah breathed out a laugh, kissing Blaine, his body rolling on top of Noah's stronger form when he tried to pull away.

"Is this your idea of room service?" Noah ran his hand down Blaine's back, his breathing increasing speed as Blaine kissed down his jaw to suck at his neck. Blaine pulled back with a small kiss, looking down at Noah, his curls brushing against the other man's forehead. "Who said you could stop?"

Noah smirked at him, a pout on his face as he grabbed Blaine around the waist and flipped him over so that he was the one on top and started attacking his side with fingers eager to tickle. The fingers only halted in their attack when Blaine surged forward and captured Noah in a searing kiss, his hand grabbing at the other man's neck and pulling him down to lay on top of him.

Yes... privacy was a good thing to have.

* * *

30. The coffee.

There was this little cafe around five minutes from Blaine and Noah's apartment that served the best coffee in the world. Or maybe Blaine was just biased but, so far, it had proven to be true.

It was run by this little Italian grandmother and her daughter. Wes had introduced him to the place (because Wes lived like eight minutes away from the small coffee shop and was addicted too) and he figured it was better for two people to be addicted instead of one. Or something like that.

He always got the same thing (which was different than what he used to get at the Lima Bean) and he always had a muffin with it (chocolate chip). Sometimes Wes would join him, sometimes Noah would join him, rarely Cooper would join him. But, honestly, the place had become a sort of place of inspiration for Blaine.

He could always be found in the cafe with a notebook full of sheet music. Sometimes he would sing for the owner and her daughter, and sometimes he would just sit in the seat and write like his life depended on it.

And sometimes he would just sit there and think.

This was not one of those times.

This was one of those rare times when Wes – _music producer_ Wes – would sit down with him for coffee and the two of them would just talk and, somehow, the topic of Santana and her wife and son came up because, surprise, Santana had been signed on with the record company Wes worked at.

And then, somehow, Santana had transitioned into Noah and Wes was telling him about how he thought Noah could very easily have a job in the music industry. Blaine sat back in his seat, taking in all that Wes was talking about, a small smile on his face as he thought of the prospective future. It was all laid out on the table for them.

He just had to convince Noah to grab it while he could.

* * *

31. The ice cream shop.

There was this old ice cream shop that had been shut down next to the playground on the street they lived. Sometimes Blaine entertained the idea of them fixing it up but there really was no point in that. It was so run down and dirty... there was basically no such thing as "fixing it up" when it came to a place like that.

Blaine actually hadn't set foot in the old shop until their cat escaped out of their apartment. Blaine had been a wreck – and so had Noah even though he didn't want to show it – printing out pictures and offering a reward if she were found. Two weeks later he was walking down the street to the coffee shop – still hoping to run into his cat somewhere – when he caught sight of a little black tail running into the ice cream shop.

He might have stopped breathing for a moment, his hands in his pockets, and his eyes darting around anxiously before he decided to throw caution to the wind and ran into the building after the cat – or what he hoped was the cat. "Harley!" Blaine yelled out into dark building. Now that he took the moment to observe the area around him it was all a rather depressing scenario.

The bar looked like the classic 1950s ice cream joint, red and white the primary colors, stripes the primary style.

A meow caught his attention, and Blaine spun on his heel, nearly falling on top of bright blue eyes and pure black fur. He dropped to his knees, his arms reaching out to cuddle the cat to his chest. "Harley! Oh my goodness you have no idea how much me and Noah have missed you." He took a moment to simply hug the purring mass that he held in his arms, refusing to let her go as she started squirming.

Her paw reached out, slashing a claw along the back of his hand and startling him enough that his grip slackened and she managed to jump free. The back of his hand was bleeding, but the cat simply looked up at him with her big blue eyes and meowed, walking towards the back of the building.

Where he heard the distinct cry of a baby.

Blaine surged to his feet, following after Harley behind the counter where a little bundled baby laid, it's little face bright red from the force of it's tears, a blanket wrapped securely around it's body. "Holy shit." Blaine scrambled to pull his phone out of his pocket, watching as Harley cuddled close to the warm body of the baby girl, falling to his knees and dialing the police.

The moment he took the girl into his arms she stopped crying, blinking her brown eyes up at him, the redness in her face disappearing. "Hey." Blaine smiled down at the baby girl, bouncing her up and down in his arms, the phone pressed tight to his ear. "Shh... you're okay, baby girl. You're okay." She smiled up at him, her tiny fist closing around the necklace he wore around his neck, a content whine passing through her lips.

And, as they say, the rest was history.

* * *

32. Harley.

It had taken some convincing on Blaine's part, and a ton of hard work on the part of both of them, but within a year the little baby girl that Blaine had stumbled across in the run down ice cream shop was their baby girl.

Cooper was overjoyed, and Hillary took to baby-Harley faster than a bee took to honey. Everyone else had asked both Blaine and Noah countless times if adopting her was something that they honestly wanted to do. Their answer – after the first few months of hiccups – had been a very positive and unmovable yes. After that people simply stopped asking them.

Once Noah started thinking of baby-Harley as his own he was the best father a girl could have asked for. He was always around for her – his new found music career making it easier for both of them when it came to taking care of her. Blaine took a year off Broadway and decided to spend more time focusing on his own music – and his own show that Wes, Shea, Garret, Sugar, Joe, and him were putting together.

While baby-Harley was the cause for many of their disagreements as of late neither of them regretted taking her in as their own. Baby-Harley even looked like one of them – with her bright brown eyes and curly dark brown hair that was starting to grow from the top of her head. She couldn't say much – and it was speculated that she may not say much of anything because of the trauma of being abandoned as a baby – but she was a very affectionate child.

She loved being held. She loved being cuddled. She loved it when either of them – or both of them on most occasions – sang to her. She loved just listening other people's voices, regardless of what they were saying.

Harley the kitten – that baby-Harley was affectionately named after – was extremely attached and protective of the little girl. She took to sleeping in the crib with her, and then she took to growling at Blaine whenever he tried to pick her up when she was crying. For some reason Harley the kitten was perfectly fine with Noah picking up baby-Harley whenever she was crying, yet she wasn't when Blaine tried.

Noah had teased him and told him it was because she didn't want to share her mother – or her mother duties – but he had promptly shut up when Blaine threatened to withhold sex for the next couple of months.

* * *

33. Oranges.

Yes, out of all the things that could make Blaine stay in California oranges were on the list. It wasn't even that he liked oranges – he didn't hate them, but he preferred orange juice over oranges – it was that oranges... well they somehow managed to bring their small family closer together.

Noah shoved the orange piece in his mouth, smiling at Harley in the way he did, with his eyes wide and mock-insane (though Blaine was pretty sure Noah was actually insane), a sort of growl passing through his lips as he waddled (literally waddled) over to Harley's highchair.

Harley looked at him for a moment before joyous giggles flew out of her mouth, her hands clapping in joy and reaching out to grab onto Noah's face, imitating it in probably the most adorable way Blaine had ever seen. "Come on, you." Blaine rubbed Noah's back, walking over to the two of them and picking Harley out of her chair and resting her on his hip. "We got to go to the beach, baby-girl."

She tilted her head to the side when Noah placed a hat on her head, blinking at him before smiling widely and throwing her arms around his neck to hug him tightly. "Dada."

Blaine still wasn't used to that one so he couldn't do much to help the wide smile that grew on his face. Noah's eyes softened at the word, his hand sliding into Blaine's and him leaning down to give him a wet kiss on the cheek, doing the same to Harley before ushering them out of the door of the flat. "You want some oranges, baby-girl?" Noah asked her gently, tapping her nose as he buckled her into the car.

She nodded eagerly, Noah leaning forward and blowing on her neck a loud exaggerated manner. She looked confused for a moment before giggling broke out and her hands clamped down on his cheeks. "Papa!"

Blaine knew that Noah just about melted every time she called him 'Papa' just as much as Blaine melted every time she called him 'Dada'. Noah smiled at her, kissing her palms before climbing into the drivers seat of the car and reaching across the gear shift to link his fingers with Blaine's. "Do you want some oranges, baby?" Noah asked him teasingly.

Blaine simply rolled his eyes and gave Noah a slow kiss, pulling back when Harley started to clap in her seat, bouncing up and down, her brown eyes bright with happiness.

* * *

34. When the two of them got a day off and, for some reason, decided to go to a gay bar for the night while Harley was with Uncle Cooper.

The music was playing loudly – though what else had Blaine expected? It was a club, and a gay one at that – throngs of people weaving in and out of the open doors. The bar they had decided to spend a few hours of the night at was nothing like the one he had visited with Kurt and Sebastian back in his Junior year, people packed together and many _many _men dancing together. Many of those men were also shirtless.

And, yet, all Blaine could bring himself to do is check his phone almost periodically and almost call Cooper dozens of times out of worry that Cooper would mess up something with Harley or that something would happen to Harley and... well he was having that anxiety that every parent got whenever it was the first time they left their child and went to have a night to themselves. He felt almost guilty but he pushed those emotions away quick enough. A small fear nagged at the back of his mind, distracting him from fully giving into a good time. It wasn't that he didn't trust Cooper it's just... well he didn't trust Cooper. Or something. Which was crap because Cooper was a pretty good babysitter.

Blaine and Noah had left Cooper alone with Harley before. But, perhaps, his problem was because Cooper had offered to watch over Harley for a good two days instead of the few hours he was used to babysitting.

Noah slid into the seat next to him at the bar, his arm coming around to rest on the back of his chair, his body leaning close to Blaine's a tender look on his face. "She's going to be fine." He reassured Blaine. "Cooper knows what he's doing."

"I know. I just..." Blaine shut his eyes for a moment, opening them to look down at the background of his phone where a picture of a giggling Harley and Noah stared up at him. "I worry."

"So do I." Noah kissed the top of his head, his hand squeezing Blaine's neck gently before sliding back down to rest on the back of the chair. "But I also worry about you."

"What do you mean?" Blaine furrowed his eyebrows, cocking his head to the right and looking at Noah in curiosity. Noah who shook his head at him and a suspicious glint beginning to shine in his eyes.

"Can I buy you a drink?" Noah flagged down the bartender, not even bothering to wait for Blaine's answer before rattling off two drinks and turning back to Blaine with a coy smile.

"Are you trying to get me drunk?" Blaine teased, a smile of his own on his face.

"Just drunk enough to come home with me." Noah reassured, leaning in closer.

"But there are so many other hot guys here." Blaine pointed out. "What makes you stand out?"

"Maybe you should come back to my place and see."

"Try again, hot shot."

But Blaine kissed him. And it wasn't one of the chaste kisses that they were so used to sharing now that Harley was around to distract them. Oh no, it was one of the kisses that they used to share not too long ago, mouths wide open and tongues grazing against one another. It was hot and it was desperate and it was passionate and if they weren't in a public place anything could have happened. And if Blaine didn't have more class he would have dragged Noah to the backroom and done what he wanted to there.

But he did have more class. So that had to wait until they got home a few hours later.

* * *

35. Brooks Brothers Factory Outlet Store.

Let's just say that Hillary's idea to let Blaine loose in there wasn't a good one for anyone unless they found it entertaining when he went crazy buying things.

Shea was one of those people who thought it was entertaining, actually going to the store with him and Harley just for spectators sake. But, anyway, Blaine was quite possibly in heaven the moment he saw all the clothes they had there. All of them just screamed for him to buy them.

Or so he told himself until he saw the price tags.

It wasn't like he had money problems, but he really didn't like spending that much money on things that wasn't needed.

Not that that stopped him from buying some outfits for himself and Harley.

Noah had complained at first until he had caught sight of the pants Blaine had bought. It was then that Noah started demanding that Brooks Brothers Factory Outlet was the only store that Blaine buy his clothes in. It was also then that Hillary decided to start buying Cooper clothes from the same store.

It was also then that she decided to tell him something that she hadn't even told his brother yet.

Blaine was browsing through some shirts for Harley when Hillary had popped back up, looking down at a small baby summer dress that she had gripped in her hand. Blaine frowned at her for a moment as Harley bit on her teething ring, nuzzling her face into his neck in pure exhaustion (which only made sense, they had been out since early the morning running errands), her eyes drooping closed. "What's that for Hill?" He asked slowly, startling her out of her thoughts.

Hillary looked up at him, a blinding smile on her face. "I'm pregnant."

An overwhelming joy filled Blaine's body and he leaned forward to hug her tightly with the one arm he could. It was at that time, however, that Harley decided it would be a good time to start throwing a fit because of how tired she was and started crying loudly in both of their ears. "Welcome to the joy of kids." Blaine had whispered to her once he had managed to get Harley to calm down – around ten minutes and thirty apologies to the people in the store after.

Hillary had just laughed, too happy with her news to do anything else.

* * *

36. The weather.

The weather in California was amazing.

As much as Blaine liked winter and the changing seasons he couldn't help but love the fact that the weather only dropped down to, maybe, the fifties in the winter.

He loved that it was almost always sunny out, he loved that there were days when there was not a single cloud in the sky. He loved that he could walk at night without a jacket and he loved that he could bring his daughter to the beach and all summer. He loved that they could have campfires and cookouts and he just...

The weather in California was perfect. It wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold. It was like the spring and summer almost all year round.

And, if Blaine felt like getting symbolic, he liked California's weather because of how much it represented him. It was almost always like spring, and in spring the cycle of things growing and being born started again. It was monumental and it was gorgeous and it was just... it was perfect.

* * *

37. California wasn't Ohio in any way, shape, or form.

And of course it wasn't. California was home. Ohio wasn't.

California had welcomed him with open arms, Ohio had kicked him while he was down.

California had built him up, Ohio had torn him down.

California had his family, Ohio had pain and misery.

California was where he met Noah and Harley. California was where him and Cooper had reached a new understanding. California was where he had figured out just who Blaine Anderson was.

So, in the end, moving out to California was definitely the best decision he had ever made.

**Fin. **


End file.
